Photo By Bill Carson/www.carsonphotos.net
On Aug. 15, the Tri-Community (Tenn.) Volunteer Fire Department was alerted of a possible house fire on Belair Road, just off of East Brainerd Road in Tennessee. When Tri-Community Fire Department Engine 1245 arrived on the scene, they immediately encountered a difficult situation. The extremely narrow roadway made it hard to get to the fire. Fortunately, after just a few seconds, the driver was able to get the fire truck up a narrow hill and fairly close to the fire. That engine also laid a supply hose from a nearby fire hydrant while they were navigating the narrow roadway. Firefighters were then able to get a good look at what they were facing—a fully involved residential structure. Firefighters quickly pulled a hoseline from the engine and rushed to the front of the structure. Crews immediately determined that this was going to be a defensive attack as they quickly started spraying water on the fire.
Within minutes, additional firefighters were on the scene, assisting with extinguishing efforts. Two additional hoselines were pulled off of the engine. The entire roof of the house was already fully involved, so any attempt to gain access to the inside would have been useless. Crews worked quickly to knock down the blaze. Within just a few minutes, the flames, which were shooting more then 20 feet in the air, were knocked down to flickers inside the hulled-out structure. Crews swapped out on the attack lines to keep the firefighters from being over worked.
The house sits up a long driveway, and a neighbor said that until the fire was really blazing, they could not even see it. There is a large amount of land grading and construction clearing going on around the structure. Neighbors said they thought the house was going to be knocked down for new construction. The construction also hampered firefighting efforts because crews had been excavating the dirt around three sides of the house, creating a 20-foot ledge all the way around the house.
Firefighters were able to completely extinguish the fire after about an hour. The cause of the fire is under investigation by fire officials.