Small kitchen fire in Devries Park apartments

I was working at home on a Friday and dispatch paged us out for reports of heavy smoke coming from a second floor window in the first of 4 garden apartments in a strip. My captain drove and when we pulled up onto the block I couldn't see any smoke but a few of the older guys ran over to the engine telling us it was definitely on fire. One of our younger members went with our captain and pulled both 3 inch supply lines off our giant rear reels on the engine, and wrapped a hydrant.

One of the older members got too excited and drove away fast and one of the supply lines came unwrapped and began to drag behind the engine. While everyone else stared at it, I ran and grabbed it and held it to the ground while the engine pulled away, then dragged it back to the hydrant so we would have both supply lines in operation.

Going back to the apartment, I masked up on the stairs because I could see heavy smoke coming from the second floor window and I assumed that's where the fire was - WRONG. As soon as we crawled into the front door, my captain made a hard right into the kitchen and the fire was right there, coming out of the cabinets. We ripped up some of the counter tops to get to the fire, which seems it started in a drawer (malfunctioned lighter?) We quickly set up a vent to get the smoke out and broke out one 12x12 inch window total, minimizing damage to the apartment.

I can safely say we came in, established our own water supply, put out the fire, checked for extension, vented and took up in a matter of 20 minutes.

Pulled out of a truck-fire

It was Christmas Eve. and just after appetizers my pager went off reporting a truck "fully involved in fire." We raced down to the scene expecting exactly what was reported, but instead we saw no flames, just a truck and a ton of smoke. The Chief met me in front and told me the police had already put the fire out with their extinguishers, as it had been rolling out of both wheel-wells when they arrived. I had my guys stretch a length of hose and charge it to put out whatever fire was left.

There was still heavy smoke coming out of the front hood and under the rear of the SUV. A few of my guys grabbed some tools and I heard yelling "take the f*ing windows." I yelled back NOT to take any windows yet, before I walked around trying the doors. For some reason I had a weird feeling there might be someone still in the back seat or something. Finally, I tried the driver-side door front door, which happened to be unlocked. To my amazement, a big burly guy was sitting in the midst of the blinding smoke IN the truck. I jumped back and said "What the f*ck???"

Just then the Chief walked around and shared my amazement as we pulled him out, saying "This guy was IN the truck the entire time?!?!" He was still conscious (no idea how) and immediately brought to the hospital for smoke inhalation. Must have been drunk enough that the noise outside didn't wake him from his nap.

As for the fire, it was very stubborn, hiding under the truck and we had to put the curved extension onto the nozzle to access it. The arson squad and a detective came down and spoke to me about what we found before we left the scene.

I pulled the newer members aside later and reviewed what just happened. I mainly highlighted the point that on a fire scene, people should NEVER assume that something is done. What I mean is firefighters should NEVER assume a room has been checked for victims unless they're 100% positive it has been. Similarly, FF's should NEVER assume an area of a structure fire (or in this case, an auto-fire) is clear of all life while a fire is going on. One would think that fire would drive a person out of their home or car... but this proves those kinds of assumptions could very well be the ones that kill civilians or other firefighters.

Small kitchen fire at the drug lady's house

We were at the firehouse about to go out on our Boot Drive fundraiser when we got called out to an "oven fire." Upon arrival, I took 3 guys with me and told the rest to stay on the engine since there wasn't any smoke / flame visible from the outside of the house. On the first floor we were met with pretty heavy smoke, a ton of furniture and what will be referred to as the "drug lady." It was the homeowner, a 60-something little old lady, no teeth, nervous as hell.

She guided us around the corner to the area where she put out the fire, it was an electric stove, melted, with much char to the backsplash, cabinets above, wall adjacent and the cieling. To be honest she did a great job putting out the fire but this was just the start of the fun. As she paced behind us, I asked her to "please go outside and wait by the chief." She walked out of the house but as fast as I could turn around she was back behind me looking through paperwork on her cluttered kitchen table. I asked again "lady can you please leave this house?" She replied "yes, but how long will you guys be?" I laughed, her house was just on fire and she was acting like I'm installing a new cable-package for her TV.

Yet a third time, after she had left again, she reappeared behind me asking once again "so you guys will just be a half hour? Will it take any longer than that?? My husband needs his drugs." I laughed and walked her out of the house. The house was a complete disaster anyway, clothes piled up 5 feet high in every corner, a kitchen with barely enough room to shuffle through and rooms that I couldn't imagine sitting down in, let alone sleeping in. Eventually I had the chief baby sit her outside but she definitely made my day haha. The husband she was referring to was already being looked at by EMS outside but she musta been feelin pretty good because she kept insisting he was in the bedroom and needed drugs.

Anyway, we pulled the oven hood off the wall, poked a couple of holes in the walls and backsplash looking for residual smoke or heat, and turned the place over to the fire marshall who i'm sure had his share of fun with the amount of fire hazards and lack of detectors in that place.

Friday afternoon extrication

I work at home on Fridays, which sometimes offers me work I'd otherwise miss while at work. This Friday, we got called to the scene of an MVA (motor vehicle accident) with reports of entrapment. My Captain and I jumped on the Rescue truck while our other, less-experienced guys jumped on the Engine. While on the way to the scene, we discussed our job roles and figured that I'd stabilize the car with cribbing and cut the battery while my Captain gets some of the hydraulic tools out. Of course, he got all excited and jumped in front of me grabbing all the cribbing he could before I could even turn around.

Anyhow, the car got whacked by a utility truck, spun around and got t-boned by an SUV then finally pinned between the two. They were able to pull back the utility truck and I realized the driver indeed was pretty badly hurt. There was also a guy in the back seat with a blanket on from the EMT's so he wouldn't get hit by glass or other debris as we worked. Being that both side doors were locked in, I couldn't get through to the hood to cut the battery without cutting the hood, which in my opinion endangered the driver since his steering-wheel airbag was not yet deployed. Looking back now, we should have wrapped the steering wheel to prevent injury but we didn't.

A few guys brought out a spreader and a cutter and we walked to the passenger side to begin popping the doors off to get the backseat guy out. I held the top of the rear door and began bending it down as the Captain from another company inserted the spreaders between the door and the frame in an attempt to pop the pin. We literally bent the whole top half of the door completely down with no pin-breaking success in removing the door. Then my Captain grabbed the spreaders and went to the hinge side, which was more successful. I cut the remaining cables and wires that were holding the door on and we tossed the crumpled piece into the street, and the back-seat guy was free. Although injured, he was able to get out on his own.

Once the SUV was pulled off the driver's door, they were able to pull him out and strap him to a backboard, supporting his head and neck with a brace. He was pretty f'ed up. No blood but my guess is a few broken ribs, maybe a broken back or neck.

Back to Back car fires

On Friday afternoon, about 30 mins before I was supposed to take Kate to the movies, we got paged out to a reported car fire behind a building. While driving down the firehouse, I passed the area and saw a 100ft dark tower of smoke, thick enough that I was skeptical if it was a car or if the building had caught fire. When we got on scene, my captain had me grab the nozzle and walk down the dark alley way as he and the new guy stretched the hoselines. Walking to the back of the building I found a Jeep fully involved in fire, the engine, the cab, the tires, everything.

I told one of our new guys to get on the nozzle as we were masking up and waiting for water. As soon as our lines got charged, I decided to sweep him to the left because another company was about to charge their hoseline on it and we were right in their path. Those guys are new and I just didnt want to take that chance. Anyhow, by the time we started flowing water into the truck, my captain had started the saw and I could hear they were having problems cutting the front hood open. Eventually the gas tank melted and a bunch of gasoline poured under the truck and caught fire as well. I had the new guy open up a few short bursts to finish the truck off as my captain finally got the hood open and water into the engine. The truck was a goner - the license plate completely melted away as well as the steering wheel. The heat was also enough to melt the taillights of a nearby car.

A day later, almost the same time of day, we get called out to a car fire on the other side of town. Another company had already been dispatched there, which made me think that either they weren't doing the right thing or didn't have enough guys. Anyhow, as we were pulling up I saw a car with the engine on fire right in front of a few air pumps at a gas station. I casually got out and told 2 guys to stretch a hoseline as I went to get the saw for the hood. I told Brian to sweep around to the street-side of the car because he was standing on the opposite side as the first hose team, which once again woulda been a nightmare if anyone opened up their hoseline.

As I got the saw started, this ex-chief of ours (who now weighs over 250 pounds) decided that today he wanted to play. He barges in and I watch him grab a hoseline from another one of our guys. I walk around to the front of the car and start the circular saw. As i do that, this ex-chief stumbles back and falls down right next to the saw. Thank god the saw stalled out when i released the throttle because it was damn close to his head. He got up and moved so we could finish cutting the front hood open and getting water on the engine. I then walked around and popped the trunk to make sure there was nothing harmful.

The ex-chief had to get taken away to the hospital where they said he had micro-tears in his heel. He's too big for his own good and I keep highlighting the fact that if he goes down like that in a house fire, it's gonna take about 5 guys to get him out.

Working drill at Bennigan's

The local Bennigan's has been shut down for over a year, but recently our Chief got permission to drill in it. 3 of my guys came with me and another company last night with a bunch of Scott packs, some search rope, a smoke machine and a gameplan.

After smoking the place up pretty thick, we divided the guys into 2 hose teams and a search team. I was the officer to stay with both hose teams. From the get-go, after entry was forced by the search team and they entered, we had troubles with the first line. As both lines were already charged, I figured it'd be tough to maneuver around corners but we should have prepared better by flaking out the lines directly in front of the doors. Instead, about 10 feet to the parking lot, both lines made a quick right turn into the direction of the Engine, so they caught the doorframe about 10 feet in.

As I was trying to keep communication with both hose teams, I ended up following the hoselines back to the front door to feed more line at the same time I was trying to aid in their searches for the "fire", which was 2 orange cones in the rear of the building. All the crawling and stretching lines took its toll on me, as the heat in the building really built up (it was a very humid August day btw.) The first hoseteam went too far and ended up stretching the line all the way to the kitchen. Good thing the second hoseteam made a left to search a room the first had passed by, so they found the fire first and "put it out." Had this been a real world scenerio, the first hose team would have went past the fire and possibly been trapped by it, so this highlights the fact of how necessary it is to have no less than 2 hoselines in any working fire.

The second evolution involved a long search line (about 75 feet of rope) and hoods over our facemasks. We tied the rope off to a stop sign in the parking lot and I worked with 2 other guys going into search for a victim that had been placed behind some tables somewhere in the restaurant. As we pushed into the building, we encountered a few rooms to the left of us. I, being the first searcher, positioned myself to the far side of the entrance, let out a 20 foot section of rope I had with me, and guided both searchers hands onto it before sending them into the room to search for victims. Everything ran very smooth.

Eventually we made our way to a room on the right where the guys finally found their victim. They reported to me, and I got on the radio and called for 2 fresh guys to follow the rope to us. When the fresh guys finally got to us, I guided their hands to the 20foot section of rope which led them to the victim and my 2 original guys they were to replace. The 2 original guys came back and followed the rope out, while the 2 fresh guys secured and carried their victim using the rope as a guide. I let them go first, with the victim in the middle, and myself at the rear as we made our way to the exit of the building. This evolution went flawlessly.

The last evolution we did was to put an activated PASS alarm in a glove and hide it in the building somewhere, to simulate a downed fireman. Teams were sent in and quickly found it. We should have muffled it more. Great drill, they guys came out tired and with a bit more experience.

First day as Lieutenant

The former Lieutenant, John, couldn't wait to give up his red helmet and LT shield. The position caused him a tremendous amount of stress this year, along with his financial problems and love-issues. To be honest, I don't think he fully thought the position through. I think he was more intent on wearing a red helmet than he was in managing a fire company.

Last night, he finally took the helmet and handed it over to me, making my officer status official. Within 6 hours of receiving the helmet we had 3 firecalls in town, allowing me about 4 hours sleep before work the next morning. Oh well. This should be an interesting year, looking at our increased working-fire count lately...

House fire on Avenue B

After working the chemical plant fire all night, I took off work and went to sleep at about 7:30 AM. About noon I woke up for some food and to make a few phonecalls. About 3 PM, the pager goes off for smoke coming from the 2nd floor of a house on Avenue B. While driving down to the firehouse, dispatch comes again and says as per the Chief on scene, it's a confirmed working house fire.

I took the officer's seat and upon approach of the fire, the Chief routed us to the block behind to try an attack from the rear. I took the guys off the engine, leaving the driver and one guy to drive to the end of the block, wrap a hydrant, and come back. I ran to a few backyards, looking for our best attack position, before finding one with a nice wide walkway and a clear shot to the heavy fire blowing out of the second floor rear window. One of our juniors already had a garden hose on the eaves, which looked funny but actually helped keep the fire from spreading until we stretched 2 lines to the rear of the house.

I hadn't heard about any interior attacks, and since we had a clear shot, I let the guys open up the line into the window and to start hitting the eaves and the roof. The second line next to me was directed at the house next door to keep it wet and cool. We shut down the line a few seconds later and then heard there were interior crews making headway so we put the lines down.

A call came across the radios stating that a 14 year old girl was possibly inside. A few minutes later, she was accounted for by her parents and an aggressive attack finally put that fire to rest.
We set up a few ladders and pulled the eaves as the fire darkened down and the crews inside began to fog-vent.

Later I learned that while our guys in the back were putting water into the window from the outside, there actually were guys in the fire-room. They told me the outside line screwed up the thermal balance in the room and they had to bail out down the stairs that they originally came up. I felt horrible. There were about 15 of us in that backyard, and no one had that line shut down for a good minute nor did anyone know there were crews up there until apparently it was too late.

Better communication would have prevented this but still no water should have entered that building from the outside regardless. There was plenty of fire blowing out that back window, so the vent was already doing its job. Hitting the eaves and exposure building should have been the extent of the rear operations. I consider that a horrible call and very preventable with a little forethought.

All Night Chemical Plant Fire

Out of all the days to stay late at work, my boss asked me Tuesday to stay until 8PM for a late meeting. Around 4:30 PM my phone starts ringing off the hook with my guys calling me to tell me there's a huge factory fire on Garibaldi Ave. I checked with a few sources to make sure it would still be burning when I got home (being that my commute is over an hour) and they reassured me it would be burning for a long time. I left work with apologies to my boss and let's just say that was the longest commute of my life.

Coming into my town I could smell and see the smoke. I grabbed a few granola bars, got dressed, went to headquarters and grabbed my gear and drove to the scene. The smoke engulfed a few city blocks and when I got close, police moved the barricades to let my car in.

When I met up with my crew, they were standing and watching as all the tower ladders were in full operation, and I was told this was a 100% defensive operation as the plant had unknown chemical and plastic contents and was vacant. As everyone was unsure of the quality of the air, we were all issued filter-masks similar to the ones surgeons wear, and some agency was already on scene doing air-quality testing.

I found my Captain and as I'm stepping up as Lieutenant in a month, I felt this was a great opportunity to work side by side and get some things done. Even though Engine Companies don't have much function at a defensive fire besides pumping water to the master streams, we found a metal staircase to a lower-set rooftop that had a door that led to one of the attached buildings that was not yet involved in fire.

After giving a heads up to the Chief and all operating ladder streams, we took a 3 man team up the attached metal stairs to set up a 2 1/2 inch line up hanging up and over the parapet next to an attached roof-access ladder. Next to us was a door to the building, which we cut off the hinges with a circular saw. We stretched the 2 1/2 up the stairs, made a big U into the room and back out of the room, 3 feet up the wall and hung it over the parapet.

I was standing a foot into the room when they charged it, unaware that I was standing right in the center of the U the line made. Water rushed throught he lines and the weight pulled the 2 1/2 tight and I quickly realized it would sweep my legs right out from under me. I only had about a second between hearing water rushing and seeing the line whipping towards my legs. I jumped as high as I could as it swept under my feet like lightning and it just caught my heel, tripping me slightly, before flying out the door and almost down the stairs. That was an extremely close call as it nearly brought me down the stairs with it. Crisis averted and let this be a lesson to me and anyone reading this to stay the hell away from a 2 1/2 as it's charging, even if your pump-operator is more gentle on the throttle than mine.

Our strategy was to set up one firefighter sitting on the 2 1/2" hoseline on the parapet, one firefighter on the landing beside him for support, one firefighter a foot into the room with a thermal camera to watch for encroaching fire, and an officer on the landing to coordinate it all.

100 feet across the roof from the nozzle-man was a set of windows which at this point all had massive amounts of fire rolling and blowing out of them. The idea was to hit the right-most window to keep the fire from moving right and entering the attached building. Every 7 minutes we rotated positions and sent 1 man down to be replaced with someone fresh from the ground below.

The attached room was hot and had a haze of smoke that got denser as time went by. At the far end of the room was a hallway which had fire that could be seen with the thermal camera, but not yet with the naked eye as the smoke was too thick down the hallway. An interior attack was out of the question as master streams operated above us, even though they were aware of our crew. As we rotated guys more and more, we noticed the fire was making its way down that hallway towards us, and we debated whether to wait for it to enter the room and make a final stand with the 2 1/2 from the landing at the doorway.

After about 45 minutes of fire attack, no improvement was seen in the windows we were hitting and the fire was getting even closer down the hallway. Too many towers were in operation flowing water, and we decided our attempts were futile and we backed down the metal stairs. 15 minutes later that entire building was overcome by heavy fire, creating furnace-like conditions.

A few hours later, I took a walk around the front of the building, which now had heavy flame blowing out of 3 or 4 windows, catching a nearby tree on fire as well. Rehab was set up in a deli across the street, and everyone operating with me earlier on the stairs went inside for some pizza and O2.


We set up our deck gun later on the same building we were trying to protect earlier and stayed for another 10 hours pumping water to all the master streams in operation. About 7 AM, my crew was relieved by one of the 16 towns helping out through the night. I went home, called my boss to take off work, and fell asleep until the pager went off a few hours later for a house fire on Avenue B...

I made Lieutenant

While on vacation, my company held elections and, although most of the guys said they'd nominate me for LT., I wasn't so sure. Although the old timers don't have much input on the fireground anymore, they still make a lot of the decisions around the firehouse and especially if the person involved isn't there to defend himself. Anyway, I got a text message while I was rushing back from the aiport that they unanimously voted me in as their next LT. I found out afterwards that the town also changed our terms for officers from 12 months to 18 months, so looks like I'm in it for the long-haul.