Burn, Baby, Burn

Well, after 12 months with my department (6 of which were training) it’s finally happened. I’ve had my proverbial cherry popped. I finally got to go in a working house fire yesterday.

 

The shift started somewhat slow, everybody was hanging around the dayroom, slacking. We finally got moving and I helped wash the engine and check the jump bags. Being in a different reserve engine from last shift, me and the driver went next door to hook into a hydrant and flow some water through to make sure everything was working properly. As we finished up we were dispatched to a house fire in our second-due territory. I was geared-up by the time Capt. made it over to us and got on the engine. Off and running we hauled ass up the street, especially when we heard the initial size-up… “2-story single family dwelling, heavy smoke showing on all sides, this will be a working incident.”

 

As we crested a hill, we could easily see where we were headed. Atop the next hill, all you could see was a huge cloud of dark grey smoke where the street and horizon would normally meet.

 

Onscene, I grabbed a sheetrock puller and went with Capt to Command to get our assignment. “Go around back and give me a better size-up.”

 

As we got back there, someone came out onto the 2nd story deck and said the floor was weak in places and they were out of air. We reported our findings to Command as we grabbed a 24 foot ladder off a nearby engine. As soon as we had it set up, our driver joined us and I went up onto the deck. They passed me a freshly charged hoseline, then followed it up. We went in to get a quick look around and learn from the other crews where the floor was weak, then retrieved our hoseline and started hunting.

 

First attack was on one small corner in a room that we were told to stay tight on the walls in. Next on my list was waiting as another crew tore into a wall in the hallway, then dousing that bit of fire. Capt ran out of air at this point so I passed the nozzle to a friend from another company and we went onto the deck with Capt. Somebody was bringing a full bottle for him so I grabbed the sheetrock puller and me and the driver went back inside.

 

We were now told to go into one of the bedrooms and check the walls on the front of the house, “the fire is in the walls.”

 

I went straight to the front wall (tamping the floor as I went to make sure it would hold me) and moved a small box from under the windows. As soon as I did, flames started shooting a foot or two out of the wall. I had to yell 3 or 4 times before somebody heard me say I needed the hoseline in there. Moments later, the driver came in with the line and knocked it down. We both tore out the wall, putting out hotspots as we found them.

 

When our low-air bells started ringing, we met up with Capt (his bottle was empty again) and went out front to the Air & Light truck for fresh bottles. We ended up dumping some of our gear for a few minutes and grabbing a little Gatorade.

 

A few short minutes later, we geared back up and went back in for some more overhauling, this time on the ground floor. By this point, the smoke fans had been in place for a while and there wasn’t really any smoke in the house. I had the hoseline again. Looking around, I could see why we were told to stay on the walls in the first bedroom, 4 or 5 of the 2x8 floor beams had 3- and 4-foot sections that were gone. The creepy thing was that the bedroom I spent so much time in had a weakened floor. The beam we had been standing one was drooping down 3 inches from the level of the floor.

 

After tearing out the rest of the wallboards and soaking everything down for a few minutes, we went outside and geared down again. Capt went to talk with Command and I went to help reload hose onto one of the engines. I think we were onscene 2 ½ or 3 hours.

 

 

But it doesn’t end there…

 

Later that afternoon, we were dispatched to a car fire across from the mall. The rescue (ambulance, it’s a merged department, they’re both firefighters and our rescues have a place for your gear and 2 extinguishers) was at the edge of our territory and decided to roll by. They beat us there and said they saw the smoke from a mile away- so did we. The engine compartment was fully involved and some bushes had also caught fire.

 

Being on the engine, I had my gear already on so I grabbed the nozzle and started the attack. Meanwhile, the other rookie was getting his gear off the rescue and putting it on. He helped with the car’s hood (fiberglass, think toilet paper in a glass of water) and I put out the passenger’s side and most of the fire around the engine as well as the bushes. Shutting the nozzle off for a moment, we drug the line around to the driver’s side and I passed the nozzle to him. *Hey, I’d want somebody to do it for me, fair is fair* He put out the rest and soaked the dash inside the car. We again took turns soaking it down a few more times before letting the tow truck load the car.

 

We found out that when they first got there, the firemedic put on his coat and helmet and grabbed the ABC extinguisher (there’s a watercan and an ABC/dry chemical on all rescues). Right as he approached the car (from the driver’s side) he started discharging the dry chem… BOOM!!! Front tire blew out. He told us he just kinda said fuck this and backed off to wait on us. He still managed to work the fire, he recently went to FAO/fire apparatus operator class so he got to work the pump. Win-win situation for everyone except the car owner.

 

We got hammered the rest of the shift, finally ate dinner around 2230. I’m not sure how much sleep we got but I can tell you it wasn’t enough. When I got home this morning around 0815, I went straight to bed. I didn’t wake up until 1400.

 

My arms and shoulders are sore from working that house fire, but strangely, I don’t mind. I guess the fact that I had my first fire overrules everything. Either that, or I’m still high on adrenalin, maybe some of both.

 

Until next time, take care and stay safe…