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- 10/1/13 News and Notes from Rockingham County
10/1/13 News and Notes from Rockingham County
News and Notes from Rockingham County
Firefighters from Rockingham County and the City of Harrisonburg fought a two alarm fatal apartment fire in Rockingham County on August 18. At 2135 Harrisonburg Rockingham ECC dispatched Companies 40, 75, Station 41, and Rescue 40 to 1131 Lincolnshire Circle, just north of the city of Harrisonburg, for reports of an apartment fire with smoke and fire showing. Prior to arriving, Engine 408, Hose Co. #4, requested a working incident be struck due to smoke in the area. Engine 408 arrived on scene shortly there after with a two story townhouse style apartment complex with heavy smoke and fire showing from the apartment, Captain 40 (Randall) established the Lincolnshire Dr. Command. It was quickly found that apartment 1131 was fully involved, making entry impossible. Crews moved down to apartment 1133, which was well involved, and performed a primary search. They then made entry into apartment 1135 with an 13/4 attack line to attempt to perform a primary search and stop the fire, which was now running the attic. Due to the age of the complex there were no fire stops in the attic space.
After entry was made into apartment 1135, Lincolnshire Dr. Command requested a second alarm to include a ladder truck. The second alarm brought Company 17 (Clover Hill), Engine 23 (HFD), Company 15 (Bridgewater), Tower 1 (HFD) and Tanker 500 (Broadway). Chief 90 (Holloway) arrived on location shortly after the second alarm was transmitted, a 360 walk around was performed and a face to face transfer of command occurred placing Chief 90 in command. To establish a secure water supply Engines 23(HFD) and 756 (Singer’s Glen) made long lays back to hydrants off of Lincolnshire Dr. Tower 1 (HFD) set up on side Charlie and began utilizing its two aerial master streams to extinguish the fire in the attic. Prior to placing the master streams in service the building was evacuated and all personnel exited the building. By this point the fire had run the apartment complex in the common attic from side Bravo to side Delta.
When the operation went to the exterior, several exterior division supervisors were put in place to go along with the Safety officer. Division A was Captain Morris (HFD Eng. 23), Division C was Chief 17 (Stover), and Division D was Battalion 92 (Joe Morris). HFD Chief 2 (Bennett) worked with Chief 90 at the command post, located at Alpha Bravo corner, tracking companies on the command board and managing accountability.
Once the bulk of the fire was extinguished by Tower 1, crews reentered the building to hit hot spots and perform a secondary search, Engine 174 (Clover Hill) put a CAFS line in service to control the hot spots. A primary search was completed on apartment 1131, which was not done prior due to heavy fire conditions, when crews entered they had an all clear on the first floor. The crew from Engine 174 entered the second floor via a ground ladder due to the stairs being burnt out, once on the second floor a victim was located in the bathroom on the second floor. This crew immediately pulled out and advised command and the Fire Marshals of their findings.
Rockingham County Fire Marshals then entered the building to complete the extraction of the victim to ensure proper removal and documentation of the location and surroundings of the victim. With the fire extinguished the scene was turned over to the Rockingham County Fire Marshal’s office and the Rockingham County Sherriff’s Office for investigation. The Rockingham County Mobile Command unit was brought to the scene to serve as a joint investigation headquarters for the two agencies. After lengthy investigation, 9 to 10 hours, it was determined that an unattended candle that ignited combustible material caused the fire. It was also noted that there did not appear to be any working smoke detectors in the apartment.
Even though this fire resulted in a fatality, good work by all companies, career and volunteer, involved made for the mitigation and cause and origin determination of the incident to go smoothly.
Rockingham County Fire and Rescue is pleased to announce the delivery of a 2013 Wheeled Coach Dodge Ram 4300 ambulance, sold by Select Custom from Roanoke. The working space of the ambulance box is 153” by 72” and the area is climate controlled by a cool bar ventilation system. The ambulance is equipped with a Stryker Power Cot, new Stairchair Pro stair chair, and an electronic O2 lift among other features. The box is laid out to allow the provider and patient to stay stationary and belted once the unit is in motion which provides a high level of safety. To go along with the delivery of the new ambulance RCFR is proud to announce the release of nine new ALS providers. These providers range from EMT-Enhanced to Paramedic. RCFR congratulates Firefighter/EMT-E Caleb Bailey, Part-Time Firefighter/EMT-E Tyler Clark, Firefighter/EMT-E Lee Keyser, Master Firefighter/EMT-I John Coaker, Firefighter/EMT-I Eric Higgs, Firefighter/EMT-I Brent Powell, Master Firefighter/EMT-I Sean Taylor, Part-Time Firefighter/EMT-I Zach Werner, and Firefighter/Paramedic Brandon Dyer. With the completion of their respective programs these individuals have gained the knowledge and skills to help the community in a bigger and better way.
By: Firefighter/EMT Taylor Roby
Lincolnshire Dr. Fatal Apartment Fire
Firefighters from Rockingham County and the City of Harrisonburg fought a two alarm fatal apartment fire in Rockingham County on August 18. At 2135 Harrisonburg Rockingham ECC dispatched Companies 40, 75, Station 41, and Rescue 40 to 1131 Lincolnshire Circle, just north of the city of Harrisonburg, for reports of an apartment fire with smoke and fire showing. Prior to arriving, Engine 408, Hose Co. #4, requested a working incident be struck due to smoke in the area. Engine 408 arrived on scene shortly there after with a two story townhouse style apartment complex with heavy smoke and fire showing from the apartment, Captain 40 (Randall) established the Lincolnshire Dr. Command. It was quickly found that apartment 1131 was fully involved, making entry impossible. Crews moved down to apartment 1133, which was well involved, and performed a primary search. They then made entry into apartment 1135 with an 13/4 attack line to attempt to perform a primary search and stop the fire, which was now running the attic. Due to the age of the complex there were no fire stops in the attic space.
After entry was made into apartment 1135, Lincolnshire Dr. Command requested a second alarm to include a ladder truck. The second alarm brought Company 17 (Clover Hill), Engine 23 (HFD), Company 15 (Bridgewater), Tower 1 (HFD) and Tanker 500 (Broadway). Chief 90 (Holloway) arrived on location shortly after the second alarm was transmitted, a 360 walk around was performed and a face to face transfer of command occurred placing Chief 90 in command. To establish a secure water supply Engines 23(HFD) and 756 (Singer’s Glen) made long lays back to hydrants off of Lincolnshire Dr. Tower 1 (HFD) set up on side Charlie and began utilizing its two aerial master streams to extinguish the fire in the attic. Prior to placing the master streams in service the building was evacuated and all personnel exited the building. By this point the fire had run the apartment complex in the common attic from side Bravo to side Delta.
When the operation went to the exterior, several exterior division supervisors were put in place to go along with the Safety officer. Division A was Captain Morris (HFD Eng. 23), Division C was Chief 17 (Stover), and Division D was Battalion 92 (Joe Morris). HFD Chief 2 (Bennett) worked with Chief 90 at the command post, located at Alpha Bravo corner, tracking companies on the command board and managing accountability.
Once the bulk of the fire was extinguished by Tower 1, crews reentered the building to hit hot spots and perform a secondary search, Engine 174 (Clover Hill) put a CAFS line in service to control the hot spots. A primary search was completed on apartment 1131, which was not done prior due to heavy fire conditions, when crews entered they had an all clear on the first floor. The crew from Engine 174 entered the second floor via a ground ladder due to the stairs being burnt out, once on the second floor a victim was located in the bathroom on the second floor. This crew immediately pulled out and advised command and the Fire Marshals of their findings.
Rockingham County Fire Marshals then entered the building to complete the extraction of the victim to ensure proper removal and documentation of the location and surroundings of the victim. With the fire extinguished the scene was turned over to the Rockingham County Fire Marshal’s office and the Rockingham County Sherriff’s Office for investigation. The Rockingham County Mobile Command unit was brought to the scene to serve as a joint investigation headquarters for the two agencies. After lengthy investigation, 9 to 10 hours, it was determined that an unattended candle that ignited combustible material caused the fire. It was also noted that there did not appear to be any working smoke detectors in the apartment.
Even though this fire resulted in a fatality, good work by all companies, career and volunteer, involved made for the mitigation and cause and origin determination of the incident to go smoothly.
RCFR takes Delivery of New Ambulance and Releases Nine New ALS Providers
Rockingham County Fire and Rescue is pleased to announce the delivery of a 2013 Wheeled Coach Dodge Ram 4300 ambulance, sold by Select Custom from Roanoke. The working space of the ambulance box is 153” by 72” and the area is climate controlled by a cool bar ventilation system. The ambulance is equipped with a Stryker Power Cot, new Stairchair Pro stair chair, and an electronic O2 lift among other features. The box is laid out to allow the provider and patient to stay stationary and belted once the unit is in motion which provides a high level of safety. To go along with the delivery of the new ambulance RCFR is proud to announce the release of nine new ALS providers. These providers range from EMT-Enhanced to Paramedic. RCFR congratulates Firefighter/EMT-E Caleb Bailey, Part-Time Firefighter/EMT-E Tyler Clark, Firefighter/EMT-E Lee Keyser, Master Firefighter/EMT-I John Coaker, Firefighter/EMT-I Eric Higgs, Firefighter/EMT-I Brent Powell, Master Firefighter/EMT-I Sean Taylor, Part-Time Firefighter/EMT-I Zach Werner, and Firefighter/Paramedic Brandon Dyer. With the completion of their respective programs these individuals have gained the knowledge and skills to help the community in a bigger and better way.