On Friday, July 8 at approximately 12:36 p.m. MCFRS units responded to the 5400 block of Mohican Road in the Glen Echo area of the county for a report of flames coming from a house. Units arrived on the scene of a one story, single family home with heavy smoke and fire evident from the rear of the home. An RID and Task Force assignment were immediately dispatched.
The crew from PE711 initiated an attack on the bulk of the fire which was throughout the first floor of the home. Limited access and steep terrain in the rear, as well as building construction that included many additions and void spaces made it challenging for firefighters.
Other crews performed a search and rescue of the home to ensure none of the occupants was still inside. It was quickly learned that the family of four was out of town on vacation. A neighbor had called 911 after noticing the smoke and fire.
Firefighters did manage to find and rescue a large turtle that is a family pet.
Over 75 firefighters responded to the scene. There were no civilian injuries while one firefighter did suffer from a heat related illness and treated.
Cause of the fire remains under investigation. Damages were estimated to be $650,000.00 to the structure and $150,000.00 to the contents. A family of four has been displaced as a result of the fire.
On Thursday, June 30, at approximately 10:20 p.m. MCFRS units were dispatched to the 1100 block of Rosemere Avenue in the Colesville area of the County for a reported house fire. Units from Fire Station #24 arrived on the scene and reported fire showing from the rear basement and first floor areas of a two-story single family home.
All four occupants of the home were safely out, as a smoke alarm alerted them, and firefighters rapidly initiated efforts to extinguish the fire. Firefighters encountered a heavy fire load and hoarding conditions throughout the home which initially presented difficulties in extinguishing the fire. A Rapid Intervention Dispatch (RID), Task Force and Second Alarm were called to assist and a short time later the fire was declared under control. Approximately 85 firefighters were on the scene.
The homeowner indicated he heard what he thought to be the smoke alarm sounding in the basement. He made his way around the outside of the house and opened the basement door to find a fire inside near the laundry room. An effort was made to fight the fire with a fire extinguisher during which the homeowner received a minor injury to his hand.
Fire Investigators were called to the scene to conduct an Origin and Cause investigation. Due to conditions, investigators were hampered though the area of origin was determined to be in the basement. Currently the cause of the fire is undetermined.
There were no injuries to fire and rescue personnel and one minor injury to the homeowner. Damages were estimated to be $200,000.00 to the structure and $75,000.00 to the contents. Two adults and two children have been displaced as a result of the fire.
Reminder: Working smoke alarms alerted the family to the fire. Working smoke alarms save lives!
A new feature here at MCFRS. Click on the icons and learn more about a significant incident that occurred in March. You may even find videos and photos embedded within the icon. You will also find links to more information in many as well.
At approximately 1:20 pm on Wednesday, November 19 units from
the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service were dispatched for a house fire
at 301 S. Horners Lane in Rockville. First arriving units reported heavy
smoke as they approached the scene, which is only several blocks from Rockville
Fire Station #3, and upon arrival reported fire showing and requested
additional resources, which eventually escalated to a second alarm.
Three (3) occupants were in the house at the time of the fire and escaped
unharmed prior to the arrival of firefighters.
Approximately seventy-five (75) firefighters responded to the
scene. It took firefighters about 25 minutes to 'knock down' the bulk of the
fire. There were no injuries. During the
extinguishing efforts a male subject approached a news camera crew and Police Officer
and confessed to starting the fire along with some other details.
The on duty Fire Investigators were advised of the confession and
other statements made to the cameraman and the subject was taken into
custody and transported to Rockville City Police Station for questioning. An accelerant K9 was requested from Howard
County to assist Montgomery County Fire Investigators with the on scene
investigation.
Fire Investigators believe the cause of the fire is incendiary in
nature and resulted in more than $400,000 in damage. There were no injuries
and the Red Cross assisted six (6) adults who were displaced. Rockville
Fire Marshals & Code Enforcement posted the house unsafe to occupy.
Montgomery County Fire Investigators have charged Carlos Peralta,
age 27, of S. Horners Lane with Arson - First Degree and three counts of
Reckless Endangerment. He was being detained at the Montgomery County
Central Processing Unit, in Rockville. A video can be found on the MCFRS News and Information Page as well.
MCFRS Units were dispatched to the 19600 block of Clubhouse
Rd., near Ridgeline Dr., in Gaithersburg for a report of a car into a house with
entrapment.
Units arrived to find two occupants in a car that had
crashed into a townhouse. The striking
vehicle crossed Club House Road and hit a fire hydrant before crashing into the
townhouse. The driver was trapped but
was quickly extricated. Both patients were
evaluated with one adult male transported to an area hospital with serious
injuries and one adult female transported with non life threatening injuries.
There was one adult female occupant at home who was on a couch
when the car crashed into house. She was
not injured though the structural damage was significant which has resulted in
her having been displaced. The address was
corrected to the 9900 block of Ridgeline Drive.
For the week of Sunday, July 21 – Saturday, July 27.
Just a reminder that the below events are only a snap shot of the number
of emergencies we respond too. These are the incidents that we feel are
significant in nature.
Several units from the 1st Battalion (E719, E724, E701, AT719, T716, BC701)
responded to a townhouse fire in the lower end of Battalion 4
(Wheaton/Kensington) on Monday evening. Companies 18, 5 and Rescue 2 arrived
quickly and found a working kitchen fire in a 2-story occupied townhouse. The
1st Battalion units provided support operations in terms getting to the rear
of the structure and into adjacent structures to make sure fire did not spread
into those properties.
Once again - a small, cooking-related fire quickly grew to a much larger
proportion. Although damage to the home was significant, all occupants
(including several children) were able to escape thanks to working smoke
detectors.
Crews in this photo are getting ready to make the initial entry through the
front door. Several ladders have been placed for rescue and building access.
Fortunately - the fire was contained in little time due to the coordinated
efforts of all companies.
One of the biggest
concerns of an Incident Commander at the scene of a building fire is the spread
of fire throughout the building via void (or concealed) spaces. While infrared
camera technology certainly helps firefighters detect such fire spread, the definitive
action is to "open up the area."
Fires in kitchens
and bathrooms are particularly notorious for fire spread because of the
numerous void spaces such as pipe chases and exhaust fans. This is why
firefighters need to poke holes in walls or pull cabinets off of walls or
remove entire ceilings. The easy way to prevent this type
of damage? Residential sprinklers!
The attached photo shows the pipe chase for a
bathroom. The photo is taken from below the bathroom - so you can see that a
fire on the floor below can easily spread to the upper floor. Many thanks to
Captain Barber (15-A) for sharing the photo.
On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of last week, companies in the lower end of the 1st Battalion responded to serious motor vehicle collisions all resulting in serious injury to multiple occupants. At least two of the collisions appeared to have involved high speed. People need to SLOW down. Companies 12, 16, and BC701 operated at the wreck shown in the below photo which occurred across the street from Co 12 on Friday, May31.
When you look at this photo (right) , you have wonder, "How did this happen?" Well- the FD wonders the same thing - however, they have to go into action and bring the emergency under control. When cars are on top of each other such as at this wreck, the scene is unsafe until those cars can be stabilized to prevent any movement or shifting. An unstable car is a danger to both the trapped occupant and the emergency responder.
Mechanical struts - shown in the lower right - are used to stabilize objects. In this case, the strut is one of several in use to stabilze the car that is resting on top of the other car. Master Firefighter Sean Hall (16-C) - shown in photo (left) - shared the photos.
With all patients removed, the FD carefully removes the stabilization devices that they used and releases the scene to the police. Wreckers will eventually seperate the cars and tow them away.
Understand these are only incidents we think have some significance and will not include, for example, a response to false or well intentioned fire alarms. Likewise, not every single medical call is on there either. Hope all of you find this useful. Please comment below or send an email letting us know what you think.
In an effort to expand our Open Gov-like offerings, MCFRS has put together the below Google Map: MCFRS Significant Incident Map - For the week of January 20 – February 2, 2013
This will allow the user to go in and click on various fire department incident icons to see what is going on and where. Understand these are only incidents we think have some significance and will not include, for example, a response to false or well intentioned fire alarms. Likewise, not every single medical call is on there either. Hope all of you find this useful. Please comment below or send an email letting us know what you think.
