Electrical fire displaces family

On 12/28/07 at 2:43 P.M. the Spokane Fire Department responded 3 engine companies, 1 pumper ladder company, 1 rescue company, 2 battalion chiefs and an assistant chief to a house fire located at 5008 N. Allen place. Fire crews found a fire in the attic that had been burning for a long period of time. All of the occupants had safely evacuated and the fire was contained within 5 minutes. The fire was electrical in origin and the occupants confirmed that they had been experiencing trouble with a number of electrical circuits within the home. As soon as smoke was detected, the occupants placed a call to the 911 center. Because of their quick action in placing this call, fire damage was kept to a minimum. Fire crews remained at the home for 1 ½ hours extinguishing “hot spots” and cleaning up fire debris. All of the electrical circuits are shut down and will remain so until they can be repaired and inspected. The occupants will be staying with other family members until the home is approved for occupancy. Fire damage was confined to wooden structural components in the attic, insulation, and ceiling. A total of 15 firefighters and 3 command officers responded to this alarm

Water That Christmas Tree!

What's a holiday party or even the traditional Christmas morning scene itself without a beautifully decorated tree? If your household, as those of more than 33 million other American homes, includes a natural tree in its festivities, take to heart the sales person's suggestion—"Keep the tree watered." That's good advice and not just to create a fragrant indoor winter wonderland atmosphere. Christmas trees account for 200 fires annually, resulting in 6 deaths, 25 injuries and more than $6 million in property damage. Typically shorts in electrical lights or open flames from candles, lighters or matches start tree fires. Well-watered trees are not a problem. Dry and neglected trees can be.



The video clip above from the Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology illustrates what happens when fire touches a dry tree. Within three seconds of ignition, the dry Scotch pine is completely ablaze. At five seconds, the fire extends up the tree and black smoke with searing gases streaks across the ceiling. Fresh air near the floor feeds the fire. The sofa, coffee table and the carpet ignite prior to any flame contact. Within 40 seconds "flashover" occurs - that's when an entire room erupts into flames, oxygen is depleted and dense, deadly toxic smoke engulfs the scene.
Wet trees tell a different story. For comparative purposes, the NIST fire safety engineers selected a green Scotch pine, had it cut in their presence, had an additional two inches cut from the trunk's bottom, and placed the tree in a stand with at least a 7.6 liter water capacity. The researchers maintained the Scotch pine's water on a daily basis. A single match could not ignite the tree. A second attempt in which an electric current ignited an entire matchbook failed to fire the tree. Finally they applied an open flame to the tree using a propane torch. The branches ignited briefly, but self-extinguished when the researchers removed the torch from the branches. As NIST fire safety engineers say: REMEMBER, A WET TREE IS A SAFE TREE!

New Episode of Second Alarm available

The latest edition of 2nd Alarm is now available. On this month's show, we'll take you to the Spokane Fire Department's Meritorious Awards Ceremony. We'll also show you the grand opening of the new Spokane Fire Department Museum.



2nd Alarm is a video news magazine produced by the Spokane Fire Department Media Services Department. It airs locally on City Cable 5. Back episode are posted on http://www.spokanefire.org/

SFD rescues man from riverbank

At 0615 on the morning of December 15th, the Spokane Fire Department responded to a report of a person who had fallen down the riverbank below the north end of the Post Street Bridge in downtown Spokane. Engine 3 responded and found the 24 year old male victim on a ledge near the water. He was reported to have fallen approximately twenty feet to that location and was unable to get back up the extremely steep embankment. Engine 3 requested additional resources consisting of the Spokane Fire Department Technical Rescue Team from Station 4, an ambulance, and a Battalion Chief. Upon arrival at the scene, the Technical Rescue Team lowered, by rope, one of its members to the victim to evaluate his medical condition. Fortunately, the victim sustained only minor injuries, which simplified the rescue situation. Rescuers lowered a ladder over the steepest portion of the embankment, which allowed the victim to climb up while attached to a belay rope and assisted by the team member. Once up the ladder, the victim was further assisted up the embankment to the awaiting ambulance. He was transported to a local hospital where his condition has not been reported at this time. The victim was very fortunate to have not fallen into the Spokane River because of the cold water and ambient air temperatures. Additionally, the location of this rescue is just upstream of the lower falls of the river, and with a relatively high flow rate of 3750 cubic feet per second, escape from the water before reaching the falls would have been difficult at best.