South Battalion House Fire
Incident #: 2013031270 Date of Incident: 07/15/2013 Issuing Officer: Bob Green/Battalion Chief
Narrative:
The Spokane City Fire Dept. dispatched firefighting crews and their apparatus to 410 W 31st Ave. at 00:09 hrs on Monday morning, July 15th, for a reported structure fire at that address. Rescue 9, from the neighborhood fire station located at 18th and Bernard, was the first apparatus to arrive on scene. The officer on that apparatus reported by radio that the rear of the house was fully involved by fire and that the fire was threatening a camp trailer and a boat that were stored in the back yard. That first arriving Officer radioed the Fire Dispatch Center and requested that the fire call be up-graded to a “working fire”. This up-grade would add an additional fire apparatus to the incident. As fire crews began arriving on scene they were assigned to various tasks which included initial fire attack, a back-up hose line to protect the crew already going inside to attack the fire, a secondary fire attack lead, water supply, a ladder crew to go to the roof to open up the roof to remove the heat and pent-up toxins that were developing in the attic space, another ladder crew to enter the structure to begin pulling down the ceilings in the main floor and to do a thorough search of the home for any potential victims, a Scene Safety Officer was assigned, another attack lead was stretched to the rear of the structure where the fire was burning freely and that had already consumed the rear deck and much of the back of the home, and the mandated RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) was established for any needed rescue of a lost or down fire fighter. Fortunately all the people who had been in the home had safely exited the building and were located outside. The coordinated work done by the fire crews on scene resulted in a knock-down of the fire which had spread very rapidly throughout the main floor and the basement of this split-entry wood/frame family home. Crews remained on scene for nearly three hours overhauling the scene and searching for any signs of hidden fire. A fire crew remained on scene through the night to locate and extinguish any stubborn fire that was still burning. There were no reports of injuries to any of the fire fighters at the scene. The building sustained very severe fire damage on all floors and part of the roof was burned away, most of the contents were damaged by either the fire or the heavy black smoke that was present in all rooms of the structure. The cause of this fire is being investigated by the Spokane City Fire Dept.’s Special Investigation Unit. Four engines, two senior ladders, one heavy rescue truck, and two Command Vehicles delivered 24 fire fighters to this incident. City Police were on scene to provide traffic control.
Cause:
Under investigation by members of the Spokane City Fire Dept's Special Investigation Unit.
Damage:
Very severe fire damage on all floors, part of the roof was burned away, many structural members of the building's framing were seriously damaged, a majority of the contents of the home were burned or suffered smoke damage.
# Firefighters Responding: 24
Dollar Loss: $ 100,000
Other Agencies Responding:Spokane Police Department, AMR Ambulance crew
End Of Release For more information on this release please call (509) 625-7002
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