FEBRUARY 19, 2015
KINGSPORT, TN (WJHL) -
As the winter weather hit the Tri-Cities this past week, it
has caused travel concerns, school closures, and created extreme working
conditions for firefighters. A number of structure fires have been reported
throughout Sullivan County, the City of Kingsport, and Johnson City, TN.
Just after 4AM this morning, B-shift firefighters in
Kingsport were notified of a working structure fire in the 500 block of Jersey
Street. Engine 5 (Border Patrol) was already on the road after responding to an
alarm in Downtown Kingsport. Engine 5 made a quick response to the fire to find
a single family dwelling around 50% involved. An aggressive knockdown
contributed to the fire being quickly brought under control. The residents were
in the home at the time of the fire, but were alerted by a working smoke
detector. With the temperatures continuing to be in the single digits, the
overnight wind chill was well below zero.
Units Responded: C-3, Engine 5, Engine 4, Engine 1, Engine
2, Ladder 1
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A Kingsport family was displaced after their home on Jersey
Street caught on fire early Thursday morning.
The full release from the Kingsport Fire Department is
below:
Just after 4 am (February 19, 2015) a Kingsport family at
546 Jersey St was awakened by their smoke alarm. A fire had started near an
in-wall heater. The Kingsport Fire Department responded to find the structure
with heavy smoke and flames. The fire was extinguished with about a 50% loss in
the structure, and smoke damage throughout the entire home. The family escaped
without injury is attributable to the smoke alarm being in working order. The
American Red Cross responded to help the family that was displaced.
The in-wall heater with large coils is a common type found
in Kingsport homes built prior to 1970. The switch on many of these heaters is
a thermostat. Many residents have turned the thermostat to the lowest position
expecting it to be “off” when it is actually setting the thermostat to a very
low temperature. When low temperatures occur, the heater will come on
automatically.
If your home is equipped with and in wall heater make sure
there is at least a three foot area around the heater where there are no
combustible items. If you no longer use the heater have an electrician unhook
and/or remove the heater.
The Kingsport Fire Department urges you to check your smoke
alarms monthly. If your smoke alarms are over 10 years old they need to be
replaced with a Dual Sensor Smoke Alarm.
Dual Sensor Smoke Alarms have an ionization sensor for fast
burning fires and a photoelectric sensor for slow smoldering fires. Place long
life lithium batteries in the alarms to last the life of the alarm.
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This evening, A-shift firefighters were again alerted of a
working fire in Station 2’s zone just before 5PM. As Engine 2 arrived on-scene
to report a single story residential structure with smoke and flames visible
from the exterior. Engine 2 made the initial attack with a 1 3/4 inch crosslay.
They were able to knockdown the fire inside the home, but the fire had spread
to the attic prior to their arrival. Once the ceiling was opened up, crews were
able to quickly extinguish the fire. Once again, the cold temperatures added an
extra degree of difficulty with ice.