Mohawk Engine Co. 12 is always a wonderful detail for me. I like the guys, the house is nice and aside from the fact that they always make taco salad when I'm there (I don't love taco salad) it's a great crew.
The tour I write of was no exception. We were busy reading the paper and watching the news as the bells went off. The Tower was reporting an alarm sounding at the Forum on MLK W. Alarm drops are very common in the CFD and so we were not really rushing to get there. In the engine we talked assignments. I was to attempt to silence the panel while others notified the buildings management of the false alarm.
As we pulled in front of the building, I was not dressed for a fire. Bunker pants at my knees, I saw the other roughneck beginning to scramble. He had just heard a resident of the building describe smoke filling the hallway on 5. It was chaos. I pulled up my pants and threw my coat on. My SCBA came next and then I was clamoring out of the engine awaiting instructions - this would be my first high rise fire. Around the other side, Rick was pulling out the high rise pack - clearly designed by someone behind a desk - and we were making for the door. With 150 feet of hose and assorted tools we climbed the stairs.
Once on 5 I started to hook up the hose to the standpipe and Rick made for the hallway in an attempt to locate the apartment on fire. He came back as I was finishing up stating that the fire was just around the corner in the first apartment on the right. Masking up to enable us to breath in the smoke, we made our advance and quickly extinguished the kitchen cabinets. The fire had not advanced too far and come under control with minimal water use. After a search revealed no occupants we headed for the exit, fresh air and a bit of rest. Other companies arrived soon after it became a one-alarm and went to work getting the smoke removed with fans and searching other apartments on the floor.
We found and rescued two dogs - but several of the owner's animals had taken too much smoke and were already dead. Some residence offered their thanks and we were back in time to enjoy that taco salad everyone loves.
who?
- joshua r hanauer
- "What is concrete but immaterial can be kept in view only by painful effort." -Clive Staples
1 comment:
I have been a resident at the Forum Apartments for about 2 years and live on the 3rd floor. I was not home when the fire started, but pulled into the parking lot to find no less than 4 firetrucks in the lot...quite a suprise to come home to! I didn't think much of it at first because the fire alarms go off here quite often (sometimes twice in the same night). Many of the residents here don't take the alarms seriously anymore. The fire was definitely a wake up call. When I saw a hose running up the stairs though, I started to get worried. Luckily the fire was contained to one apartment. I just wanted to say thanks for everything you guys do, and keep up the good work!
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