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February 20, 2006 -
At 1121 hrs, Foam
Engine 501 (Rose) was dispatched 4th due on mutual
box 08-01 for a house fire at 8914 Yorkshire Lane.
The supplement from communications advised smoke in
a bedroom. It didn't sound like much until first
arriving Wagon 508 (Brown) reported smoke showing
from side A of a single family detached dwelling. It
was at this time that the Foam Engine could see a
good column of smoke in the sky while still being
several minutes out. The crew from 508 attempted to
make entry through the front of the house along with
Engine and Truck 511, but the front door was blocked
by furniture on the inside. Heavy fire was now
venting from the front of the house and falling
debris had burned through 508's line. Those units
then stretched their lines to the rear and made
entry along with 3rd arriving Engine 509. By this
time a good portion of the house was heavily
involved in fire. The fight was on as crews made an
aggressive push into the rear of the house. As the
Foam Engine arrived, they were assigned to be the
RIT Team and made their way to the front of the
structure with their tools in hand. They did a walk
around of the building to see which crews were
operating where, venting as they went. It only took
about 3 minutes before 501 was told to abandon there
RIT duties and were put to work by Operations (Chief
511A, Ackerman). Command requested an additional
engine company to assume the RIT. The crew from 501
stretched the last pre-connect off of 508's rig,
which unfortunately was a 2 1/2, and the men settled
in for a beating. They worked the front of the home
but with crews coming in from the back, they
repositioned their line to the rear. With not much progress being made
in the rear, Command ordered everyone out of the
house to regroup. Stretching to the front of the
house and finally beating in the blocked front door,
501's lineman (Shafer) started to knock down the
fire in the front, and after a few minutes of
exterior operations, units were given the green
light to reenter the structure. This time around,
the crew from 501 along with the other companies
made quick work of several rooms still burning and
an abundance of hot spots still smoldering in the
deep seated fire. 501 worked for
several hours overhauling and picking up hose. Truck
511's crew, who cut two holes in the roof, did an
excellent job opening up the building so crews could
operate comfortably inside. One occupant of the home
was transported for smoke inhalation and other
injuries. An unattended candle left in a closet is
being looked at by the Prince William Fire Marshals
Office as a probable cause. There were no
firefighter injuries and Chief 508A (Deem) had the
command. It was an excellent team effort on the part
of all companies operating on the fireground. While
this fire was happening, the dedicated volunteers of
Manassas maintained a second crew, staffing Engine
501. They answered several calls within the city
during this time. The Foam Engine cleared the fire
at 1420.
Box
Alarm: W508, W511, E509, FE501, T511, B501, M509
Special Call: W516, W507, A504 |
