Tis the Season

The end of the year is approaching which means that we will see an increase in structure fires. The increase mostly comes from a mixture of the holidays and cooler weather but arson is also popular as the end of the year approaches. Lets not rule out human error which of course is prevalent at any time. We have already seen an increase with a few descent fires over the last couple weeks, including what I can say was the most boring fire of my career.

The call came in around 3 o'clock in the morning and we were the last engine company to arrive after a several minute trip down the freeway. I think the firefighters in back were asleep for part of the trip until we made our way on top of an over pass and I told them to look at the orange glow filling the sky. Over the radio, we could hear the first units arrive and report heavy fire from a 2 story and immediately went into defensive mode which means that the fire was too big and not safe for them to enter the structure. Defensive fires are usually a long drawn out process and I just knew that this would be the start of a very long night. Once we arrived, command had us man a 2-1/2" hose on the "delta side" (Right side of the house) which we did for about 30 minutes until most of the fire on our side was out.

They raised the aerial ladder and flooded the house from above so we went back to the front and waited for another 30 minutes where we started getting bored until command came up and told us we could go. It was great to hear those words and we got out of there as fast as we could. This house was empty and intentionally set. At that time of night, most people are asleep so the fire burned for a good while until it was noticed.

About a week before, we had a pretty good one early in the afternoon. We were the second engine to arrive and helped the ladder company set up to ventilate the roof, then went inside to help another engine company work on the fire until command misunderstood some radio traffic and pulled everyone out of the house. This included the roof team right as they were about to cut their hole which would have helped even though the fire was knocked down pretty fast once everyone was let back inside. The man living in the house said that he was cooking and fell asleep on the couch. When he woke up, his kitchen was on fire which had already made it's way into the attic by the time we arrived. The fire was contained to the kitchen and attic but the rest of the house had some pretty heavy smoke damage. Looking at the pictures below, you can see just how bad smoke and heat can damage a structure.

This water heater came down a few feet from my crew, making a loud crashing noise. At the time, I didn't know what it was but everyone was alright so we went on our way. A while later we found this which could have been deadly had a firefighter been standing underneath.

 

Here is a view from the side of the house and the only exterior damage. The kitchen where the fire started was on this side and you can see how it traveled up to the attic. The entire roof remained intact which is pretty good considering the amount of fire that was in there.