Sept. 15--HAMPTON -- When a fire broke out next door, Ernie Gurganus knew just what to do.
Neighbors who had heard the smoke detectors ran over to Gurganus' house just before 5 p.m. on Saturday to alert him that the house immediately behind his was on fire. Gurganus, a Newport News firefighter, saw smoke billowing from a rooftop vent of the house on the 100 block of Bonita Drive in Hampton.
"I know it's a bad sign when it's in the attic," Gurganus said. Knowing the possible extent of the damage if the fire burned unchecked, the off-duty firefighter went to work.
"I reluctantly ran down there," Gurganus said. "I've been with the Newport News Fire Department for 29 years, so it wasn't my first rodeo."
Armed with nothing but a garden hose and his wits, Gurganus, 52, ran up into the attic of the burning house and began spraying down the fire.
Gurganus said he was up there for between 7 and 10 minutes, doing his best to keep the fire under control until Hampton firefighters arrived.
"I was just trying to keep it in check," Gurganus said. "I couldn't really get in there because I didn't have any gear -- but I did have a good garden hose."
Gurganus said at one point he called down to neighbors standing in the house below for a wet towel to wrap around his face, which allowed him to breath through the smoke.
Hampton Battalion Chief Andy Call said Hampton firefighters arrived right around 5 p.m. and had the fire under control in about 20 minutes. The attic and back porch of the house were damaged but no one was inside when the fire started and there were no injuries reported.
The fire appears to have been accidental, Call said, but the investigation into the cause was ongoing Saturday evening. The fire displaced three adults, who were staying with family friends, according to Call.
Neighbor Bill Merrill was one of those who helped Gurganus contain the fire.
"The thing had smoke billowing out of every crevice of the roof," Merrill said. "It could've been a lot worse" without the quick actions of Gurganus and the other neighbors, he said.
Gurganus said it's fortunate the fire happened when it did.
"They're lucky it happened at 3 or 4 in the afternoon and not 3 or 4 in the morning," he said.
Murphy can be reached by phone at 757-247-4760.
Copyright 2013 - Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)
