Yesterday was a good day, busy, but good. I managed to get on the engine and we ran a lot of EMS calls as well as a car accident. But the highlight of the day was a car fire. Usually, on fire alarm and vehicle fire calls, there hasn't been a hazard...This wasn't a usual call I guess.
Yesterday was a 'yucky' kind of day, really overcast and raining on and off. We were out in our territory and finishing up a business inspection when we were dispatched for a vehicle fire. Being the tailboard rider, I was doing a balancing act to get my gear on while in route to the call. I got everything on and was holding my facepiece, looking out the front window as we proceeded down the street. As we rounded a curve, I saw it, a large cloud of smoke rising from a car engulfed in flames. I spun back around and put on my facepiece, helmet, and gloves, then hopped out and grabbed one of the crosslays(200ft of hose with nozzle). We broke a connection since we only needed 100ft and the line was charged. I put the regulator on(to breathe air from the SCBA), bled the air from the line, and made the attack on the car (with the seat-man right behind me of course!).
The car was rolling good when we got there, both front tires had melted, as well as the front of the hood. The front windshield had somewhat disentegrated and the fire was trying to move through the fire wall and into the dashboard. I guess getting the hood open on this one shouldn't be a problem.
As soon as the first drops of water hit the fire, all went to smoke and steam- all I could think was that I knew the car was right in front of me so keep aiming there and see if the visibility gets better. Thankfully, the fire was under control in a few moments. One of the windows was shattered so we could unlock and open the doors to help ventilate and see any more hot spots. We kept drenching certain areas under the hood that kept smoking.
The driver was lucky to get out safely, he managed to get his car completely off the road before parking it.
On a funnier note. Earlier that morning, the engine driver explained to me that he normally had the pressure set for 90psi. If there was more than one line being operated, the pressure would be boosted to keep both lines at 90, but if one line shut down, the other would get more pressure and to use the nozzle to control the pressure until he could adjust it. After we made it back to the station, I was asking some questions aboutthe water pressure I was getting and what was the pressure set at. Things I'm not really required to know since I can't operate the pump, but hey, even rookies can be curious! Turns out at first it was set for 90, but only putting out 80psi. (He was asked to boost the pressure some in the middle of the extinguishment). He bumped the pressure to 100psi, and of course, the pump sent 120psi through the line. Even I knew something happened when I had to gate it back a little!
The tow truck driver told us about a time he was carrying a burnt car and it rekindled as he was driving down the street. He asked us repeatedly to make sure it was out before he loaded it. He was being nice about it so we humored him. I took turns watching for and adding a little water wherever there was still a little smoke (hard to do on a windy day). As I was flowing a little water on the last hot spot I realized there was a problem. I shut down the nozzle, turned to the driver and said "uh, I think we're out of tank water......the line just went limp." His eyes got as big as saucers and he took off running to the engine. Sure enough, it was empty. There wasn't a big fiasco, the fire had been out for a while, this was the 3rd or 4th time we wet it down. Besides, we were lucky, there was a hydrant right across the street...I've been told that rarely happens.
It wasn't a bad shift, we ran a few calls overnight...also had the telephone ring a lot. I guess I'll just be the typical rookie, overexcited and overeager to let my friends and family reading this know.....................
I got my first fire!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!
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