Fire fighters battle house blaze for hours due to water supply problem

[SkierBob]

My neighbor Georgie's home burned to the ground last night.  Fire fighters had trouble with the long narrow driveway and the closest fire hydrant being 3/4 away. 

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Firefighters-Battle-House-Blaze-Hours-Water-Supply-Problem-305948681.html

[Wrightwood]

Bob - how big was neighbor Georgie's water tank firefighters emptied?

[SkierBob]

Judging by the size I'd say not more then 5 or 6 thousand gallons.  I'll go down there later and take a picture of the tank. 

They were very fortunate the humidity was very high which helped the fire from spreading to the brush.  The news report says winds were 55mph, it was really about 25 to 35mph. The 1/2 mile long driveway was so narrow water trucks could only pass each other on a couple spots between the home and the fire hydrant. 

[Jim Wilkins]

With the combination of factors involved, it is amazing that the house did not go completely to the ground.  Those of us who live in isolated areas have many positives but there are also risks involved that can't always be completely mitigated away.  I have 6,000 gallons of storage but depending on where I am on the usage, might only have a third of that available in the summer months.  Looking at that driveway, I can imagine the difficulty in getting water in and then having to back the Water Tender back out to the road or turnaround.  There are many areas in the Tri-Community that match this for water and access challenges.

[SkierBob]

The driveway requires 4x4 when it's wet & muddy.  The house did basically burn to the ground.  The fire department has a track hoe that's demolishing what's left of the place as they are concerned with a hotspot starting the brush on fire. 

[Leftfield]

Is there a way the Fire Dept could retro-fit their water dumping helicopters into water spraying helicopters for places like this?

[Jim Wilkins]

From a cost and risk basis....I would say no.  Not sure how you would transfer 1000 gallons of water from a hovering (very large) helicopter into a fire engine tank.  The other factor is rotor wash.  The wind speed from those blades is over 100mph and can fan the flames even more.  We had issues with that when they tried using the new Marine Ospreys to drop water.  The rotor wash was wicked and pushing the flames at a fast rate when the ship was low enough to drop water.

[SkierBob]

This pic shows the long narrow driveway to the home.  It's about a 1/2 mile to the fire hydrant and pavement if they go to the left.  Nothing to the right for several miles which takes you out to the bridge over the 14 at Vincent Hill. 


Not much left after the track hoe finished the place off.  I have never seen them do this to home after a fire.  Their reasoning was to prevent the fire from sparking back up and getting into the brush,, probably a good idea.   





Here's the water tank picture for John.
 

The owner told me he had been having some electrical issues "outlets dead in one room". The fire started in the attic. He had just finished getting out of the shower when he noticed smoke coming out of a vent.  He attempted to contain the fire after first calling 911. It took only 10 minutes for fire fighters to arrive.  A locked gate at the bottom of the road prevented them from accessing the home.    The key to the gate was back in the burning house. I'm still not sure how they finally opened the gate. But evidently the gate caused a delay. 

[Wrightwood]

Sounds like a handful of reasons on why the house was lost.
Homeowners choosing to live in a secluded wildfire prone area must take extra precautions and not let their guard down.
Having a locked gate preventing access was not good start for firefighters arriving quickly to the isolated area.
What a tragedy to see your house burn to the ground then watch it again being demolished.

[SkierBob]

Sounds like a handful of reasons on why the house was lost.

Completely agree 

 

[tcaarabians]

Truly tragic.  Here's a question: I keep my gates locked. I've always assumed that firefighters & paramedics keep a bolt cutter on their trucks. Is that incorrect?

Course anything that slows them down is not good. I'm very glad I have a hydrant on the corner of my property. Plus, we keep hoses hooked up with those spiffy nozzles the Fire Council sells. And, we have multiple fire extinguishers with various ratings. Now, if a few of my neighbors would clear their brush I'd appreciate it. cheryl o7o

[SkierBob]

 I'd bet they do have bolt cutters.  Did I mention the home owner is Russian and speaks broken English so there was plenty of opportunity for a communications misunderstanding. 

My neighbors who don't clear their brush won't be my neighbors anymore when the brush fire comes through.  I would think it would be very expensive to rebuild with all the new building requirements.  Brush clearance is well worth the effort.