VICTOR, NY — Two volunteer firefighters are credited for discovering a fire inside the bay area of Victor Fire Station.
According to Victor Fire Chief Sean McAdoo, it was 12:13 a.m. when the two sounded an alarm for smoke inside the six-bay masonry structure. Crews responded to heavy white smoke in the truck bays, he said, and discovered a fire truck on fire.
McAdoo said he "immediately called for help from Fishers, Farmington and East Bloomfield fire departments, Victor-Farmington Ambulance and Ontario County Emergency Management Office and the Ontario County Sheriff's Office."
The fire, which was limited to the engine compartment of the 16-year-old, 40,000-pound truck, was extinguished in about 30 minutes. The truck was towed outside the structure for further inspection.
Flames in the engine compartment were extinguished in four or five minutes, and engine 2731 is now out of service, McAdoo said. There was no damage to the actual structure, and firefighters were able to remove all the other fire trucks out of the garage undamaged, he said.
"We had fire dripping out of the engine compartment, so it was something in the motor," he said."It was something in the engine, either an electrical or mechanical component."
The fuel tank is in the back of the truck, and was not impacted by the fire.
One firefighter was taken to the hospital with possible smoke inhalation, McAdoo said.
Canandaigua, Manchester and Bushnell's Basin firefighters stood in for East Bloomfield, Farmington and Fishers fire departments, respectively.
If purchased today, the damaged truck would cost in the neighborhood of $550,000, McAdoo said.
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Fire truck engine catches fire at Victor Fire Department
By WHAM Monday, July 11th 2016
A fire truck caught fire inside the Victor Fire Department fire hall due to an apparent electrical malfunction Monday (WHAM photo)
Victor, N.Y. - An electrical issue is believed to be the cause of a fire truck fire at the Victor Fire Department.
Chief Sean McAdoo says around 12:13 a.m. Monday, a couple of firefighters that were working after hours noticed smoke coming from the garage of the fire house.
He says it was discovered that the pumper truck was on fire.
The fire was limited to one truck, mostly in the engine. Fire investigators believe an apparent electrical malfunction was to blame for the fire.
There was a lot of smoke in the garage and the fire took about 30 minutes to control.
Farmington Service, LLC helped to pull the truck out of the fire hall, preventing further damage.
No damage was caused to the fire house or any other trucks.
Chief McAdoo says 27 volunteers from the department responded. Some had to be directed away from the scene to keep calm.
"The firefighters here in Victor are very disciplined and report to command as it is," Chief McAdoo said. "We're used to coming to the firehouse, getting on the firetruck, and going to the scene. Instead, they came to the firehouse to be on the scene."
One firefighter was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, but was released a short time later.
Victor firefighters were assisted by the Fishers Fire Department, New York, Farmington Volunteer Fire Association, and East Bloomfield Holcomb Fire Department.
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Failure of electrical insulation leading to short-circuit and arcing.
This cause also requires failure or inadequacy of the circuit breaker protection (if fitted).
In particular, insulation rubs on unprotected battery cables to the starter motor, alternator, cabin supply and trailer box supply can cause fusion / arcs.
The fault current potential on the alternator line (assuming that it has circuit breaker protection in the battery box) is roughly equal to the alternator current rating.
A circuit breaker is never fitted at the alternator terminals. Therefore, the alternator electrical cables should be designed to withstand more than the alternator rating current level continuously – 150% of the alternator rating as a guide.
Note that the starter motor terminals are usually uncovered, even on fuel- haul trucks! If a spanner is dropped across them, a short-circuit and fire could result.
Some manufacturers run the alternator and cabin supply cables from the starter motor terminals rather than the battery terminals. When this is done these cables are electrically unprotected.
This is expediency. Cabin and alternator power cables could and should have circuit breaker protection.
The starter motor cables are never protected by circuit breakers because it is impractical. This means that they are vulnerable to short-circuits.
Manufacturers rely upon the mechanical protection (outer conduit and double
insulation) of the starter cables and suitable stand-offs. Sometimes a metal protrusion separates the split conduit covering and causes a rub on the cable insulation.
Excessive current flow leading to hot wiring and burning insulation.
This can result from inadequate wiring design. Trucks can operate continually with high electrical loads under hot ambient conditions which heats up the electrical system.
A conservative rule is to limit the continuous current draw to 5A/mm2 of copper cross sectional area. For example, using this guideline, the current rating of a 2.5mm2 V75 stranded automatic cable is 12.5A. Many designers would regard thisas an excessively conservative rating.
However, in my experience it is sensible for Australian conditions.
Occasionally a blanket screw used to hold the trim in place will damage a cable within the cabin wall. A hot point can occur with road use.
Circuit breaker protection should be adequate to protect against this but sometimes is not.
Electrical fires should not happen on circuit-breaker (or fuse) protected circuits. If they do the protection is poorly designed or has been modified. The protection level is sometimes inadequate when a light gauge wire (say for instrumentation purposes) is taken off a heavy current circuit. A fault on the light gauge wire is not adequately protected.