Report Number: 05-0000168
Report Date: 05/27/2005
Event Description
E-(XX, first arriving) arrived on the scene with heavy smoke showing from a single story dwelling. There was no visible signs of fire, however later it was determined to be in the rear of the building. E-(XX, first arriving) and E-XX, second arriving) were assigned supression while E-(XX, third arriving)'s crew was assigned to search. Once the teams made entry we encountered several objects in the way of us advancing hoselines and making a successful search. Crews were in the house for aproximately 3 minutes when conditions began to deteriotate. The heat all of a sudden became intense and the smoke conditions went to the floor and became pitch black. The hose team did not see any fire, however they penciled the ceiling and no water returned.
As L-XX was assigned to vent the house they discovered the house had two complete roofs and was not able to be vented vertically. As some of the windows were broken it was discovered items were piled in front of them or they had been broarded up. It was then the the conditions became too unbearable and command along with the crews made the decision to evacute. As E-(XX , second arriving) was exiting the house they heard a firefighter ask for help in the distance and turned around to go further back into the house to help. During that period E-(XX, second arriving)'s crew and the firefighter got turned around and disoriented in all the stuff in the house. As luck would have it a firefighter at the door heard us yell for help. The firefighter at the door helped orient us and find the hose line to make an exit. After we all made it out, 6 of us were transported to the hosiptal with 1st and 2nd degree burns.
Lesson Learned
I am not sure exactly how to answer this question. I believe that it was unfortunate that the individual's house was so cluttered with junk and it had been set on fire using an accelerant. I believe sometimes our firefighting gear is designed and built so good that we can get too deep into a fire before we are arware of the situation we are in.
As far as how to prevent this from happening again, it is hard to answer also because it is hard/nearly impossible to do pre-plans on each house in your area to know what the dangers can be inside.
I believe that once the conditions inside went bad and L-XX reported that they were unable to vent the house that command made the right decision to evacuate the house.
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