Saturday, January 17, 2015

FIRES ALSO SPIKE IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA. TRADITIONAL CAUSES HAVE BEEN EVERYTHING FROM ELECTRICAL ISSUES TO FOOD LEFT ON STOVES TO SPACE HEATERS TO FIREPLACES



FIRES ALSO SPIKE IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA.  TRADITIONAL CAUSES HAVE BEEN EVERYTHING FROM ELECTRICAL ISSUES TO FOOD LEFT ON STOVES TO SPACE HEATERS TO FIREPLACES





January 16, 2015

2 house fires within same hour add up to Huntsville's 11th structure fire in 11 days

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Huntsville Fire & Rescue has had a busy start to 2015. Two house fires within an hour of each other Friday afternoon makes 11 confirmed structure fires so far this year.

The first call came out of the 3000 block of Grantland Circle shortly before 2:30 p.m. Four fire engines were dispatched to the two-story house where crews encountered visible flames but got the whole thing extinguished within 10 minutes. The three adults living there got out safely when the fire first started.

A Huntsville Fire & Rescue firefighter is cleaned off after crawling through mud underneath a house on Kildare Street. Investigators say the fire began below the house. Jonathan Grass/jgrass@al.com)

Fire Capt. Frank McKenzie said there was heavy fire damage in an upstairs bedroom that extended down the hallway and into a bathroom. There was also a lot of smoke damage in the living room with more smoke throughout the house. Despite all of this, the house is still habitable. McKenzie said the residents secured a place to stay that night but should be able to get back in the house shortly. It was determined the Red Cross was not needed at the scene.

The heavy damage upstairs near the bedroom led firefighters to estimate this was where it started. Investigators were called in to find out for sure as well as determine the cause.
Firefighters were still on this scene when a second fire broke out at in the 2000 block of Kildare Street. This call came in within an hour of the Grantland Circle 911 call. Four more units were sent to the second call.

The two people living there told firefighters they saw the fire underneath a wood-burning stove. They got out safely and called 911.

Crews soon discovered the fire was actually under the house rather than in it. It was determined the smoke the residents saw was coming up through the floor. Crews had to crawl through mud to get under the house and knock the fire out.

It's a lot on the guys but we can handle it

An investigation was started to determine if the residents will be displaced. The Red Cross was called in just in case.

These incidents make 11 confirmed structure fires in January so far. McKenzie said all of them have occurred since Jan. 5, making 11 fires in 11 days. This is in addition to the regular medical calls, wrecks with entrapments and other calls.

"It's a lot on the guys but we can handle it," McKenzie said.

He said it's normal to have a high number of fire calls this time of year. He said cold weather can contribute to it, but there are a number of reasons they see increased fires in the winter. The causes behind several of the recent fires are still being determined, but McKenzie said traditional causes have been everything from electrical issues to food left on stoves. It was determined that last week's massive fire that destroyed an apartment building at Imperial Gardens was caused by a faulty water heater installation.

"It's a gamut of reasons but the thing we would like to do is remind people to be safe, pay a little extra attention to what you're doing so we can cut those numbers down," he said.