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.