Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Fire Press Release

ISSUING OFFICER: Brian Schaeffer, Assistant Chief
DATE OF INCIDENT: 6/26/2007
INCIDENT TYPE: Structure Fire
INCIDENT ADDRESS: 1209 East Lyons Avenue, Lot 218
CITY: Spokane
STATE: WA
ZIP: 99208

NARRATIVE: On Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 7:02 AM, 9 Companies of Spokane Firefighters, 4 Engines, 1 Heavy Rescue, 1 Ladder and 1 Pumper-Ladder under the direction of Battalion Chiefs Steve Sabo and Bob Green responded to a residential structure fire at 1209 East Lyons Avenue, Lot 218.


The caller reporting the fire was a neighbor that was able to view fire showing from the windows of the residence. The two residents (husband and wife) were awoken by an alarming smoke detector and narrowly escaped the rapidly escalating fire.


The first company arrived within 5-minutes and reported heavy smoke and fire showing from a single-wide trailer. There was an intense fire in the far south bedroom that was rapidly consuming combustibles and moving north to the remainder of the trailer. The first and second companies encountered two patients (both residents of the home) injured from smoke and heat. Fortunately, both companies are staffed with Paramedic/Firefighters and they began treating the victims while other crews simultaneously stretched multiple handlines and were able to confine the fire to the southern potion of the trailer. Concurrently, Ladder companies ventilated remaining areas and searched the trailer to guarantee there were no other victims and attempted to locate a family pet. Companies working on the interior encountered multiple explosions as they searched and attacked the fire. The explosions were caused by numerous flame-impinged medical oxygen cylinders.


It took 28 Firefighters just 20 minutes to knock down the fire and control the incident. Both patients were seriously injured with varying degrees of thermal injuries and smoke inhalation and were transported to a local hospital for treatment. Despite the compressed oxygen-fueled fire and explosions, no firefighters were injured throughout this incident.

PROBABLE CAUSE: The cause of this incident was concluded to be accidental and determined to be misuse of smoking material.
DAMAGE EXTENT: Damage is significant. Structurally the trailer is a total loss; however some of the contents were salvageable. The SFD worked feverishly to salvage as much of the resident's personal effects as possible.
DOLLAR LOSS: 50000
FIREFIGHTER RESPONSE: 28
MUTUAL AID: None Given

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