Here I sit listening to the pitter patter of the rain on the roof of our tin box. We have a storm front blowing through the low country and luckily for me all it is doing is just dropping some much needed rain on our sun baked land. It has been in the upper 90's for the last week or two and we are several inches below where we were this time last year with regards to rain fall.
The last time I wrote in my blog I posted a video of the house fire across the street from me on May the 27th which was Memorial day. Two trailers are totally damaged, a shed is destroyed and the lives of five people were disrupted. I am happy to report that all of the parties involved were able to find a place to stay. One family is staying next to me in a small trailer that has been vacant now for some time. My landlord, who has a heart of gold, was nice enough to let these folks move in so they would have a place to stay.
It remains to be seen if anything will be done to challenge the actions of the rural fire department that arrived on the scene and did a poor job of containing the blaze. I realize that it is very easy for me and others to be arm chair judges of how or why the firefighters did what they did. To be fair the fire did not spread any further than it did. Part of that was because of the firefighters and what they were doing with only one fire hose and partly because of what the neighbors did to pitch in and try to keep small amounts of water on the second trailer to keep it from being fully engulfed in flames.
One of the renters pleaded with the fire chief on the scene to have someone go put some water on the back of her trailer so it would not wind up a total loss like the first one. From what the lady told us the Fire Chief cursed her out and told her to get out of the way or face some jail time. From what I could tell this lady was a bit hysterical but I guess if all my belongings were going up in smoke I would have been a little less than calm on that day too. Was it necessary for the Fire Chief of this rural fire department to be this rude and uncaring? I wonder if they are like that at all the fires that they go to or were they reserving that kind of treatment to us rednecks that live in trailers at the end of Mapleridge drive?
When the fire fighters were being pleaded with to put some water on the secondary fire (second trailer) they were reported as saying that they could not touch that fire because it had not been called in yet. In other words they were responding to a house fire at a specific address and that is what they were supposed to fight no matter how much damage was happening right next door to them. To me that does not seem very logical. When they arrived the shed was 100% gone and the first trailer was a good 90% gone as well. At what point do they consider those two structures a total loss and try to keep it from spreading to other houses right next to them? I guess that is a question for the experts.
Something else that sort of baffles us is that there were five fire trucks but only one hose being used. We were told that because the fire hydrant was on Old Back River that they could only fill up one fire truck at a time and then bring it down to the bottom of the hill and use it to fight the fire. Does that mean that all of the trucks that were responding were empty and had no water? The fire trucks were there for at least two hours. I am not sure I understand why truck number one could fight the fire with hose number one and then truck number two be filling with water and then bring that truck down the hill and have two hoses engaged on the fire. What about the other two trucks that were sitting up at the top of the hill on the asphalt running their flashing lights and engines but not being engaged to fight the fire? Was it that there was only room for one fire truck on our small street and that is why the other units stayed on the asphalt? If that is the case then I don't understand why the second and third truck did not run a hose from their trucks down to the fire. There were plenty of fire fighters physically on the scene to handle more than one fire hose.
I am hoping that the events of May 27th will come into question so that whatever lessons need to be learned will be learned. Surely that fire was not the only fire that these fire fighters have encountered and surely not every single fire has a fire hydrant conveniently located at the location where the fire is. I cannot help but believe that these men and women have been given professional training on how to fight fires. From what I could see on the afternoon of May 27th I am wondering how much training has been given or if it is adequate. I think that the only thing that saved the entire end of Mapleridge drive from going up in flames was that the neighbors pitched in to help where the firefighters could not or would not and we did not have any high winds that day. Had there been high winds or if this had happened when not many people were around the losses could have been much worse.
Posts
2 comments:
I volunteer for a nearby fire department, not GC Rural, but a neighboring FD, and thought I'd offer my thoughts on this fire. I wasn't there of course, and can only offer objective opinions based on what I've read. I did not hear the fire call go out on the channel either, so I can't base anything on what I might have heard on the radio.
Assuming the only hydrant was the one at Old Back River Rd & Maple Ridge, we'd have to know the flow testing on that hydrant. It may not have been able to supply more than one truck. I've run into these problems before at house fires. Generally, one 5" line (usually large plastic yellow looking) can supply a large volume of water to one, even two trucks. I'm not sure water supply was an issue.
Not all fire trucks have water on them. Generally speaking, most engines/pumpers have about 1000 gallons of water on it, which can last less than 10 minutes with one or two lines off the truck, depending on the size of those lines (a 2.5" would flow more than a 1.75" line). Ladder trucks may not have any water on them at all, and the same goes for any rescue trucks. I know Rescue 38 rolls to many of Co 3's calls but I do not know if it has any water on it or not.
Assuming that they had to 'shuttle' water (as its called when one has to fill up and bring it to another), if they were using just engines to do, it brings the 1000 gallon capacity into play. If that's the case, it's likely that the first-in truck would be nearly out of water before the second would be back with a load (considering drive to the hydrant, wait to fill, drive back, hookup, pump to 1st truck, etc).
I can tell you that in your area, and nearly all the area that Company 3 covers is hydranted. I do not know if they even have a tanker, though those resources would be available (my company has tankers, as does the two neighboring departments).
You are correct that firefighters receive training - in fact, it's required in SC. The state and OSHA teach a course that must be taken prior. They're required, if I remember correctly, 20+ hours of training a month.
As far as whatever the incident commander said to the distraught lady - I can't speak to that. I have seen on more than one occasion residents become downright combatant because they don't think the FD is doing their job - it's important to remember in these cases that the FD *is* doing their job even if it doesn't appear that way. An incident commander is responsible for the lives of the firefighters and any citizens on scene, and being interrupted isn't conducive to maintaining command. Interfering with a emergency official is actually an arrestable offense, though I'd imagine that BCSO wouldn't do it without good cause.
And since neither of us actually saw or heard what the fire department official said to the woman, then we're basing it on here say of someone who lost their home and possessions - certainly nothing short of miraculously saving everything would make them happy. If your house was a total loss, and the FD was unable to prevent it, it's easy to pass blame onto the FD.
In any event, I'm not totally defending the FD for your area, but I think the best method to figure out what happened would be to contact the FD and get a copy of the report and even request to speak to the fire chief to answer any questions. If it doesn't work out in your favor - go to the board of that fire department.
Thank you for your well thought out response.
Post a Comment