Blissfully asleep at 5:20 am, my wife wakes me up telling me that she hears weird noises that might be gun fire. I get up, get my wits about me, grab my powerful flashlight (thanks OttoSig for heads up on the deal awhile back), and pistol. Nearing the front of the house, I hear screaming outside and pop-pop-pop sounds. Carefully, I investigate, and find a neighbor's house a few doors down on fire. The screaming is the occupants outside on the sidewalk, fortunately, no one was injured. Grab the cellphone and call 911, tell the dispatcher there is big house fire. While I was talking to the dispatcher, I watch/hear an explosion that blows the main garage door open. I told this to the dispatcher, and he said he heard it over the phone, responders are on the way.

Eleven fire/rescue vehicles and seven LE vehicles responded. The entire house is a loss. The concrete block walls and a small portion of the roof is still up, but one can look end to end through the house, and up through almost all of the roof. Four hours later, and some F/R crews are still here.

Aside from the heartache I feel for those that lost everything, a few interesting observations:

1) It isn't clear to me why so many LE responded. Certainly some were needed to secure the scene, they were the first to arrive and scouted out the hydrants for F/R, pushed people back and made sure the fire trucks had room. But all that only took 2 deputies.

2) Low water main pressure hampered the initial fire fighting, but the house was fully involved before they had arrived, so I don't think it made a big difference in the end.

3) It is amazing how fast the fire spreads once it reaches the roof. I had heard that before, but never witnessed it.

4) A ladder truck was brought in to fight the fire. Humorously, the operator of the ladder apparently was new at it, because he didn't check the position of the nozzle before turning on the water. He ended up spraying a bunch of us that were watching (about 30 degrees outside, BTW), as well as completely soaking another firefighter. I am sure he will hear about that back at the firehouse.

5) What a complete mess a fire makes. All the water running out of the house with debris into the yards, driveway and ultimately street.

6) I don't know these neighbors, but obviously she needs a lot of emotional support. After the big show was over and all the other neighbors had gone back to sleep, my wife and I went down to see the aftermath. The neighbor and her friends were there, and we just stood, looked at the damage and empathized with the neighbor. Something as simple as being with someone in pain and being willing to feel it with her made a big difference to her. She reached out for a hug, and thanked us for being with her.

Any idea what the popping sounds were or what caused the explosion?

Very sorry for the homeowner.

quote:

1) It isn't clear to me why so many LE responded.

It may have been, in part at least, you're having told the dispatcher about the explosion you heard as well as him hearing it over the phone.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:
Any idea what the popping sounds were or what caused the explosion?

Very sorry for the homeowner.

Not sure, but maybe aerosol cans over heating and bursting?

Pops during a house fire could be any combination of:

Glass shattering from the heat. Damaged structure breaking. Pressurized cannisters bursting, like aerosol cans. Trapped steam. Ammunition. Batteries. Gasoline cans. Etc.

I'd agree about the aerosol cans, or possibly a propane bottle. I've had a fire at my own home, thankfully it was only my shop/shed/pool house and not my home. The shop portion contained my reloading equipment and quite a bit of loaded ammo, powder, and primers. A few pops and fizzes, but no explosions. Fire was contained before it spread but building was a total loss.

quote:

Originally posted by eagle0199:
The shop portion contained my reloading equipment and quite a bit of loaded ammo, powder, and primers. A few pops and fizzes, but no explosions.

Because the powder and ammunition weren't tightly contained, so the pressure from any ignited propellant was able to easily escape.

What a way to wake up!

Hope the smoke residue/smell doesn't get to bad for you.

A house three doors down from me burned years ago and the lingering smell the house emits for months and months is intense or was for me and our homes are on large lots.

The smell would get bearable then it would rain and bring the stench out again.

It seems like it takes forever before the lot gets cleaned up due to fire investigation, insurance pay out and the owners finally getting around to having it cleaned up.

Actually think it was the new owners of the lot that had it cleaned up so they could start a new home build.

Hope things move fast for you and your neighbors.

I hope if she had any pets they got out. Nice of you guys to provide a little emotional support.

I feel for the neighbor but they're probably fortunate it's a total loss vs substantial damage requiring major reconstruction.

Given my experience in the fire service I'll see if I can answer some of this:

quote:

Aside from the heartache I feel for those that lost everything, a few interesting observations:

1) It isn't clear to me why so many LE responded. Certainly some were needed to secure the scene, they were the first to arrive and scouted out the hydrants for F/R, pushed people back and made sure the fire trucks had room. But all that only took 2 deputies.

ANSWER: This isn't 100% clear but there are several things that may contribute. First, officers are all over the community and mobile while Fire Fighters are in the stations in fixed locations. Often LEO can arrive first and perform some basic rescue, tend to victims, secure the scene, and provide feedback to dispatch. Seconds count so any help NOW is better than help in 4-6 minutes. I'll guess there may have been multiple calls which adds to urgency. Sometimes keeping residents or good intended bystanders from running in to save pets or valuables and making the situation worse is needed.

2) Low water main pressure hampered the initial fire fighting, but the house was fully involved before they had arrived, so I don't think it made a big difference in the end.

ANSWER: This 100% sucks and there is little that can be done about it. If you work in an aggressive interior attack department, this simple fact causes serious changes in your SOP on scene. I'm not taking a crew into an aggressive fire for interior attack if there is a good chance I'll end up with a limp hose in my hand. It's like taking on 30 bad guys and you have (1) 30 rnd mag. You have to be very careful in how you manage your attack strategy.

3) It is amazing how fast the fire spreads once it reaches the roof. I had heard that before, but never witnessed it.

ANSWER: This is true but also just the visible part. Fire has to be deeply seated and rolling pretty good to breach the roof. Once breached a lot of the heat and combustible gasses contained in the structure are released which does help with containment. You now have a column of fire vs. a contained mushroom. The addition of wind and oxygen can accelerate an already bad situation.

4) A ladder truck was brought in to fight the fire. Humorously, the operator of the ladder apparently was new at it, because he didn't check the position of the nozzle before turning on the water. He ended up spraying a bunch of us that were watching (about 30 degrees outside, BTW), as well as completely soaking another firefighter. I am sure he will hear about that back at the firehouse.

ANSWER: Seen this, done this. Often simply coordination between the person manipulating the nozzle and the pump operator. Once had a big garage fire, went big water on initial attack. As the master stream (water cannon) on the top of the engine was being cranked down from 45 deg (transport position) to an attack angle, the pump operator opened the valve. This soaked 3 blocks in a straight line and ripped a lot of shingles off the roof. It was 15F so a lot of ice resulted. The two responsible for that combined had close to 50 years experience.

5) What a complete mess a fire makes. All the water running out of the house with debris into the yards, driveway and ultimately street.

ANSWER: Yes it does... There is no such thing as a neat clean fire.

6) I don't know these neighbors, but obviously she needs a lot of emotional support. After the big show was over and all the other neighbors had gone back to sleep, my wife and I went down to see the aftermath. The neighbor and her friends were there, and we just stood, looked at the damage and empathized with the neighbor. Something as simple as being with someone in pain and being willing to feel it with her made a big difference to her. She reached out for a hug, and thanked us for being with her.

ANSWER: This is where you can really help. They lost everything most likely and often in late night fires wallets/purses are left behind and destroyed. They'll need basics. Tooth brush/paste, combs, brushes, soaps, shampoo, basic clothing, underwear, shoes, food, drink. Think about everything you touch from the time your feet hit the floor in the morning and they'll need it. Of course cash that you can spare would definitely help. Eventually they'll get assistance from insurance and other sources but that takes time.


Explosions: Hard to say. Pressurized vessels like car tires, cans, air compressor tanks, all can rupture and cause big explosions. Yes, they're exciting for us too. I've been hit by flying cans of paint and cleaners before. A backdraft was possible if a window or other opening breached allowing sufficient air in to that space to trigger it. Several things can cause an event like that.

So, I've been thinking about this.

And, I'm starting to think there's a reason no one used to have attached garages - and not just because the predecessor was a carriage house.

Heck in the South, it was common to have detached kitchens.