10:15 AM I'm finally fast asleep, The tones go off on my pager which I left on full volume since I'm on call to respond for the next 12 hours. My wife and daughter were playing in the next room, BEEP BEEP BEEP.... "Engine, Batallion, Respond on a 'Fire Other' at ____ Machinery" followed by a bit of information and an address. I peeled myself off of the ceiling, rolled out of bed and threw on my FD coveralls, I sprinted down the street to the fire station, threw my turnouts on over my coveralls and jumped into the engine.. Our chief had already turned the engine on and opened the bay (Its much faster for us to run in through an open bay door and get into our gear than it is to run through the living quarters and into the bay) "Morning Chief! What have we got?" He laughed and said, An oil and water evaporator fire, Workers called the station and asked us to respond non-emergency. (A laugh was shared because our protocols don't allow us to respond to any fire in a non-emergency manner) Workers haven't been able to put it out using several extinguishers and 9-11 was notified. We waited another minute for a few other volunteers to show up and staff our engine and we rolled out lights and sirens blaring. -"This is the life" I found myself thinking while I was buckling into my SCBA and prepping to go play. While en-route we discussed our options as a crew and decided to pull a trash line and bring our supply of engine fire extinguishers.
(A trash line is a 100 foot section quick roll used for quick fire attack on simple fires like dumpsters, vehicles and situations that do not require longer lines for fire attack)
Upon arrival we could see a thick black plume of smoke coming out the side of a machine as well as out of a chimney chute at the top of the machine, The fire itself is contained inside the machine and hasn't extended to either of the buildings. We mask up and go on air, about this time our Battallion shows up and takes over command, We have our trash line pulled and hooked up but not charged, It appears at this point as though we can tackle it with our extinguishers, My partner and I each grab a 20 lb Class B powder extinguisher and prepare to spray as our 3rd firefighter opens the hatch exposing the burning oil inside the machine, As soon as we start to spray, fire shoots out of the chimney and balls up into a 30 foot tall ball of flame, surprised, both of us quit spraying for a minute and the flames die down, we go at it again this time knowing what to expect, Our 3rd firefighter repositions himself and opens the hatch but that didn't stop his turnouts from getting a 'badge of honor' as we call it- That is the fire was so hot that it melted the reflector stripes on his arm- The turnouts did their job and kept us all safe from the heat, 30 seconds later my extinguisher is empty. We are called off to re evaluate how to better tackle this fire, The machine is then moved further away from the buildings and the trash line is charged, We decided to cool the machine for a few minutes by spraying a general fog pattern around the outside of the machine with the hatch closed and oil still burning inside.. Once the machine had been cooled, We stepped toward the machine and I took over the job of holding open the machines hatch while our other firefighters sprayed extinguishing powder inside the hatch (and subsequently all over me for that matter). A few minutes later our fire was finally out, We stayed and watched the machine for the next 15 minutes or so to make sure it wouldn't reignite.. Overall this fire emptied 2 of our 20 lb extinguishers and 2 additional 5 lb traditional powder extinguishers. This fire was a different experience than most in that it was mostly contained, However this was the first time in a live emergency that I've seen multiple balls of fire rising into the air some 30+ feet. As we cleaned up and headed back to the station we shared our experiences from this call, The general train of thought: "This is the life!" I had completely forgotten about my job worries and I had a huge smile on my face.. I LOVE what I do!
An image similar to what it looked like when we started spraying our extinguishers on the fire.
Most fires begin small enough to be easily put out with a fire extinguisher. Extinguishers are your first line of defense. This is why it is so important to make sure your fire extinguishers are regularly inspected and maintained, in your home and business.
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