Close to Home

It is rare that I am able to photograph a fire scene while the suppression activity is in it's early phase. So rare, that most of my photos are of the overhaul phase of operations. That's OK, overhaul can be interesting as well, if shot properly. Yesterday, a structure fire broke out pretty close to my house. As a result, I actually arrived before any of the units. 

I parked around the corner, as I didn't want to:

A - park the Schmoemobile in the way of arriving units.

B - get blocked in by the multitude of apparatus that were soon to be on scene.

I actually took a few actions before I started shooting, so my first shots were taken about the time the first line was pulled off of the rig. Things moved pretty fast from there.

Single story, single family dwelling with the attached garage heavily involved. A good hydrant located directly across the street. E2, E10, T2, T3, S2 and Batt2 are the initial units dispatched. A crusty/rusty retired fire captain/photog arrives first and advises the BC of initial size-up. E12 is requested by the BC as an additional resource. 

E2 arrives and begins to deploy lines

A couple of cars in the driveway added to the mix

 

Something you don't see every day.

 

Two metro packs on the ground, both off of E2

Two of the cars were heavily damaged

This was just as water was being applied.

Water on, visibility off for me.

Meanwhile, back at the hydrant.

Truckies being truckies.

The flames are gone, but the work is not.

I like this shot, good balance of people and apparatus.

The investigators arrive and begin their work.

A family was displaced, at least four people, including at least one child. Though the fire was held mainly to the garage,  I'm guessing that some damage occurred to the living space. When the rush of combat is withheld from the equation, fires do suck - especially for the victims.

Thanks for reading,

Schmoe

Tragedy in Riverside

A twin engine Cessna 310 crashed shortly after take-off from our local airport a few days ago. It

struck two houses before coming to rest in a third home. Five people were on board, three were killed and two were critically injured.  Miraculously, no one on the ground was hurt, though two houses were destroyed.

As usual, I got there after the main fire was knocked down. Knockdown was no easy feat, as the plane appeared to be well fueled at the time of the crash. Speaking with friends who were on the first alarm, it was utter chaos when they arrived. Two fully involved homes, huge traffic issues and live rescues presented themselves to the first-in engine. 

There's plenty of video of it out there, some of it is spectacular. I spent two or three hours there and shot about 200 photos. I kept about 75 or so and submitted them to the department. They selected 15 and posted them on Facebook. The photos below are those. To get the best viewing experience, click on the image to enlarge.

The IC and the first-in Captain.

The Fire Chief, Police Chief, Rep from 

AMRand one of our BCs having a

 con-fab. This was a big deal.

A couple of guys working on a car that was in one

of the demolished homes. It, too had a bit of fuel in it.

They ended up using a rotary saw to cut away some

of the steel garage door keeping them from getting

to the car. Sparks were not an issue, the fuel was 

already on fire.

More fun with the car.

A couple of hours in, this guy needed

a quick break. He is a friend of mine

and is no slacker. I'll bet he had gone 

through five bottles or so by then.

There was bad ugliness in that room.

I am grateful I didn't have to see

it.

He had to see it.

Boy, did they go through bottles.

The ICP. The guy in the white hat is the other BC,

My brother without a lid is the IC. The poor bastard

in the blue shirt is on light duty and is basically

the BC's errand boy until he heals up.

What goes down, must be loaded

up. There was a mile of hose on the

ground, a lot of it off of E5 - the

first-in engine.

 

Ray-Ray, our lead investigator. I remember when

he was new. It makes me feel old.

The huddle. Always a must-shoot for me.

Three hours in, eating subs. I think 

these were the guys who pulled one

of the victims out of the bedroom.

I'll say it, heroes in my book.

God bless these guys. CERT team

members who brought out some

vittles.

 

Chief's being chiefly.

Chief's being even more chiefly.

After a bit, it was determined that

any further disruption of the crash 

would be detrimental to the invest-

igation, so the hose-lines were pulled 

out.

The department had units out there for another day at least, along with the media, FAA, NTSB, and several other agencies. I stayed home and mowed my lawn. I was real proud of the actions taken by the "Kinda Big FPD" on this day, they did a great job under trying circumstances.

Thanks for reading,

Schmoe

 

Gettin' It Done in the 951.

Batt. 2 units battle a fire in a single family dwelling, Nov. 25, 2016.

I caught the tail end of this last night. The fire had started in the garage and and burned through into the attic. When I arrived, the garage fire was knocked down and the truckies were making a coordinated attack on the attic with interior crews. While I was a little bummed missing the garage knockdown, I was pretty happy to capture the attic portion of the battle. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt during this incident.

I know tactics change over time, but I still struggle watching crews attack attic fires from above. It was always pretty much a Bozo No-No to stick a nozzle through a vent hole when I was on the job, now it is in the tool box, in the top tray. That's why old bastards like me retire. Change is tough for us.

Click on the image to see the big picture!

It had been a while since I had been out on a fire, it was good to see some of my peeps again. It makes me feel good to see "new guys" wearing red helmets and driving trucks.

Thanks for reading,

Schmoe