Category: FireGrounds

  • Updated: NY Firefighters Battle Massive Plant Fire

    Updated: NY Firefighters Battle Massive Plant Fire

    Jamestown and other area firefighters battled a blaze that ripped through a former manufacturing plant.

    Source: Firehouse.com

    Firefighters from several departments battled a massive blaze at that ripped through a former Jamestown furniture plant Wednesday.

    Flames quickly engulfed the former Crawford Furniture location on Allen Street shortly after the fire was reported at 11:20 a.m. 

    Officials told the Post-Journal that they were concerned about the fire spreading to adjacent buildings as fire engulfed four-story building. Several collapses occured as the fire raged.

    “This is a site that we (the city) have been under a current lawsuit with the owner Richard Rusiniak,” Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said told the Observer Today. “We have had the New York state DEC and federal EPA. It was really a matter of time before something bad happened without the owner securing it. We do not know the cause of the fire yet as we are here. We will send in investigators afterward.”

    The fire was brought under control after four hours.

    More than a dozen fire departments responded to the fire, according to the Post-Journal.

  • Photos: Wind-Driven Fire in Cleveland Destroys Five Homes

    Photos: Wind-Driven Fire in Cleveland Destroys Five Homes

    Cleveland fire officials said five homes, two garages and 12 vehicles were destroyed in the wind-driven fire Thursday afternoon.

    By Cliff Pinckard Source cleveland.com

    CLEVELAND, Ohio — A wind-driven fire tore through a neighborhood Thursday evening on the East Side, destroying or damaging five homes and multiple vehicles.

    Seventeen fire companies and 80 firefighters battled the four-alarm blaze on Mannering Road, just south of Euclid Avenue in the Euclid- Green neighborhood, according to a news release from the Cleveland Division of Fire. The fire first was reported at about 5 p.m. in a home on the road but it quickly spread to nearby homes because of strong winds.

    Along with five houses, two garages and 12 vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the fire, officials say. No cause of the fire has been reported.

    There were no injuries reported, but 14 adults and two children were displaced by the fire. Firefighters were able to save two dogs and a cat.

  • Early Morning Fire Destroys TX Daycare Center

    Early Morning Fire Destroys TX Daycare Center

    Water pressure was an issue as the Guardian Angel Child Development Center in San Antonio burned.

    A fire that broke out around 5 a.m. Friday has destroyed the Guardian Angel Child Development Center, located in the 1600 block of Pleasanton Road.

    The San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD) were forced to use defensive operations as the fire spread quickly throughout the U-shaped building.

    Joe Arrington, a public information officer with SAFD, told KSAT.com that firefighters had to call on the San Antonio Water System to increase water pressure in the area. They were using at least three aerial ladder trucks at one time in an attempt to put out the flames.

    That, combined with regular usage by nearby businesses, was taxing the water system.

    Firefighters also had to navigate around numerous electrical lines in the area as they battled the fire. However, crews with CPS Energy arrived and quickly cut off the power.

    The daycare center was not open at the time and firefighters did not find anyone inside.

  • Two VA Fires Send 11 Children to Hospital

    Two VA Fires Send 11 Children to Hospital

    Four children were critically injured after fires at a Portsmouth day care center and Suffolk apartment building where crews rescued several kids.

    By Caitlyn Burchett Source The Virginian-Pilot

    Four young children are in the intensive care unit and six others are still being treated at the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters following residential fires in Portsmouth and Suffolk.

    A spokesperson for CHKD confirmed 10 fire victims, ages 2 to 9 years old, were transported to the area hospital’s emergency department Wednesday afternoon after fires broke out at a townhouse in Portsmouth and an apartment in Suffolk.

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    “As of noon today (Thursday), four of the 10 fire victims were in the intensive care unit of CHKD,” Elizabeth Simpson Earley said.

    The other six children, Earley added, are being treated in the general care unit. Additional details, including the nature of the children’s injuries and which fire the four in ICU were victims of, were not available.

    A total of 11 children escaped multi-family structure fires Wednesday — with nine being rescued from 4516 Greenwood Drive in Portsmouth and two others from the 400 block of Smith Street in Suffolk.

    The Portsmouth and Chesapeake fire departments responded at approximately 1 p.m. to a reported fire with victims inside the Greenwood Drive townhome. A public record search confirmed that Indoor/Outdoor Reach LLC, a child care service, operated at that location. Attempts to reach Portsmouth’s Office of Economic Development to verify the business were not returned.

    Two children were trapped on the second story of the burning building, said Julian Williamson, deputy chief of the Portsmouth Fire Department. The pair were rescued by Portsmouth fire crews and transported to a local hospital in critical condition.

    Seven other children escaped the blaze on their own. However, five of the seven were transported to a hospital for non-life threatening injuries. The remaining two children were evaluated and stayed at the scene.

    The Portsmouth Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the circumstances, Williamson said.

    Asked about initial reports that said only children were in the home at the time, Williamson said investigators have “not received any information that says anything different.”

    Around the same time, at approximately 1:20 p.m., Suffolk Fire & Rescue responded to an apartment fire with victims trapped inside a building in the 400 block of Smith Street.

    Suffolk fire crews pulled two children from a unit.

    “Both were evaluated at the scene for possible smoke inhalation and were transported to an area hospital,” said Tim Kelley, spokesperson for the city of Suffolk, in a news release.

    Kelley confirmed that one of the children was in critical condition.

    The blaze, which was not marked under control until 3:15 p.m., nearly two hours after the initial call came in, also resulted in the hospitalization of three firefighters for heat exhaustion. One firefighter had been released from the hospital as of Thursday, while the other two remained. They were listed in stable condition.

    The Smith Street fire in Suffolk displaced 11 people, including five adults and six children, according to Kelley.

    The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

    The American Red Cross will be assisting the victims of both fires.

    Caitlyn Burchett, 727-267-6059, [email protected]

    Staff writer Ali Sullivan contributed to this report.

    ©2022 The Virginian-Pilot. Visit pilotonline.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

  • Death Toll Reaches Three in ME Explosion, Fire

    Death Toll Reaches Three in ME Explosion, Fire

    Officials say a leak in a propane-powered appliance sparked an explosion at a Montville log cabin that claimed three lives.

    Source Bangor Daily News, Maine

    Apr. 14—MONTVILLE, Maine — Three men have died after a gas explosion and fire Wednesday afternoon leveled a residence on Darci Lane in Montville.

    First responders found Rocco Taddeo, 88, of Montville, dead inside the home. Homeowner Stuart Nichols, 74, and a relative of his, 78-year-old Robert Gorham of Buxton, were found outside the house, where they’d been thrown with the force of the explosion into some nearby trees, according to the Maine State Police. Both Nichols and Gorham were taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland to be treated for their injuries, but later died at the hospital.

    Early results of the investigation have established that one of Nichols’ propane-powered appliances had a gas leak, Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said. A recently acquired used propane-powered cooking stove in the kitchen was among several propane-powered appliances in the small log cabin.

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    When the explosion and fire happened at about 3:30 p.m., Taddeo had been trying to light the stove, Moss said.

    The disaster took place at the end of a quiet dirt road in center Montville, an area where the neighbors seemed to all know each other. Nichols, a Vietnam-era veteran, lived in the log cabin and had a large garage on the end of Darci Lane. But both buildings were leveled Wednesday and vehicles parked in the yard were rendered charred metal heaps. Scorched trees surrounded where the homestead had stood.

    A Darci Lane neighbor who was one of the first on the scene said that the fire was like nothing he had ever seen before or could have imagined.

    “It wasn’t like a Bruce Willis action movie. It was beyond that,” the neighbor, who gave his name as Jimmy Edward, said. “It was an absolute inferno.”

    On Thursday morning, investigators with the Maine Fuel Board and the state fire marshal’s office took photos of the charred rubble that remained. Family members of one of the victims stood under an umbrella in the chilly rain, speaking quietly with investigators and looking at the scene of destruction around them.

    According to the Montville tax maps, Nichols owned 4-acre property that the town assessed at $47,500 in 2021.

    Edward’s home is separated from where Nichols’ house stood by a small group of trees. He was on his way home when he noticed smoke coming from somewhere in the vicinity of Darci Lane.

    “Right away, you knew it wasn’t someone burning leaves,” he said. “It was a structure.”

    He rushed towards his neighbor’s burning house. As he approached, he saw another man he thought was a volunteer firefighter also come running to help. He remembers the man was driving a Maine Energy truck, although an employee of Maine Energy said later Thursday that the company didn’t know of anything like that happening.

    “He’s running towards the inferno, which looked like a rocket ship upside down,” Edward said. “It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. When it went off, it went off.”

    The Montville Fire Department was assisted by firefighters from Liberty, Searsmont, Freedom, Morrill, Troy, Unity, Brooks, Washington and Palermo. Ambulance services from Liberty, Searsmont and Unity provided medical assistance.

    Edward said that it’s a shame that municipalities are having a hard time finding enough volunteer firefighters to staff their fire departments.

    “You don’t think you’ll need them, until it’s your house,” he said.

    (c)2022 the Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine)

    Visit the Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine) at www.bangordailynews.com

    Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

  • DC FF Injured Battling Fire in Vacant Dwelling

    DC FF Injured Battling Fire in Vacant Dwelling

    A DC Fire and EMS firefighter was injured battling a vacant building fire that extended to an adjacent property.

    A DC Fire and EMS firefighter was injured battling a vacant building fire overnight on the 5800 block of Georgia Avenue NW that extended to an adjacent property.

    Firefighters were called to the two-story dwelling around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday night, crew arrived to heavy fire conditions in a two-story vacant property, according to a tweet by DC Fire and EMS.

    Crews got a quick knockdown on the main body of fire then started to open up walls and ceilings to check for extension and extinguish hot spots.

    One firefighter received a non-life-threatening injury and was transported to a local hospital

  • PA Firefighter Struck and Dragged at Fire Call

    PA Firefighter Struck and Dragged at Fire Call

    A Chambersburg firefighter sustained minor injuries after being stuck by a vehicle during a call.

    Source: Firehouse.com News

    A Chambersburg firefighter was hospitalized after being stuck and dragged by a vehicle during a fire call.

    The firefighter was injured on Tuesday morning as crews were at a smoke odor with possible fire call at the Chambersburg diner.

    Fire officials said a passenger vehicle disobeyed traffic control devices and enter the fire scene. The driver ran over a fire hose and the firefighter got caught and dragged for a bit, according to Fox 43.

    Fire officials said the firefighters received minor injuries and was transported to the hospital, the driver was citied for running over the fire hose.

  • VA Fire Leaves One Missing, Multiple Homes Damaged

    VA Fire Leaves One Missing, Multiple Homes Damaged

    A massive fire ripped through the Ashburn neighborhood in Loudoun County damaging multiple homes and leaving one person missing.

    Source: Firehouse.com News

    Firefighters in Loudoun County battled an early morning two-alarm fire that has left one person missing and damaged four homes in Ashburn.

    Around 1:30 a.m., Tuesday morning firefighters responded to a reported home fire in Ashburn that was spreading to adjacent properties. 

    Firefighters arrived to find heavy fire on multiple floors of the home with fire quickly spreading to the houses on either side, according to Loudoun County Fire officials. Due to the amount of fire, a RIT team and second alarm were requested.

    Fire crews battled windy conditions attacking the bulk of the fire from the exterior as others worked quickly to contain the fire and search for occupants in the neighboring houses.

    Two residents from the primary fire building self-evacuated and were transported to a local burn center with minor injuries, one adult remains unaccounted for.

    Fire companies from Ashburn, Lansdowne, Moorefield, Leesburg, and command staff responded to the initial call.

  • LA Crews Battle a 3-Alarm Apartment Fire

    LA Crews Battle a 3-Alarm Apartment Fire

    New Orleans firefighters battled a three-alarm fire in an apartment building that left one resident injured.

    Source: Firehouse.com News

    New Orleans firefighters battled a three-alarm apartment fire on the 2100 block of Westbend Parkway that left one resident homeless.

    Firefighters were called to a reported apartment fire in the Westbank neighborhood on Monday afternoon. The first arriving company reported heavy fire engulfing much of the building and requested a second-alarm, according to the New Orleans Fire Department.

    Crews initiated primary searches of the building removing all residents while they conducted suppression operations to control and stop the spread of fire. The fire escalated to three-alarms to provide relief crews operating at the scene.

    Twenty-seven fire department units and fifty-eight firefighters responded to the scene, no firefighters were injured.

  • Cooking Fire Damages LA Apartment Building

    Cooking Fire Damages LA Apartment Building

    Baton Rouge firefighters battled an apartment fire that damaged multiple units, injuring one occupant.

    Source: Firehouse.com

    Baton Rouge firefighters battled heavy flames at an apartment fire that injured one occupant who was cooking.

    Firefighters were called to the apartment fire around 9:00 p.m., Sunday and arrived to heavy smoke pushing from a unit in the building.

    “The occupant stated that they were about to fry some fish when the grease splashed onto the burner and caught fire,” the Baton Rouge Fire Department told BRProud.com.

    Firefighters stretched handlines to control the blaze and had it under control within 20 minutes of the initial call. The occupant of the fire unit sustained a minor burn to their hand.

    BPRoud.com reported a total of nine units were affected by the fire and were being assisted by the Red Cross.