At approximately 2:15, on Sunday afternoon White Settlement Fire Department fire dispatcher Chris Harrell received a call reporting a residential structure fire in the 500 block of Odie within the city. Tone was immediately sent to the cities volunteer force. Units began arriving on the scene within 4 minutes of first notification. The first unit on was pump 3 . They arrived to find a 2 story brick residence with fire showing. BN Chief Tim Ellis and Fire Fighter Kyle Meier pulled a big booster and began to attack the fire.
Pump 1, Pump 2, Quint 1 and Utility 1 also made the scene. The fire appears to have started in the garage and quickly spread to the upstairs kitchen area. Shortly after pump 3 began their attack, a line was laid from a hydrant approximately 100 feet from the fire.
Lt. Craig Slovak and Fire Fighter Gwen Culpepper made entry through the front door of the residence, which happened to be the 2nd story above the garage. They encountered fire in the upstairs kitchen and made quick work of extinguishing the fire in that area of the home. All of the fire fighters who made this fire were extraordinarily brave and are to be commended for the hard work and effort they made in extinguishing this fire. In all 17 personnel from the White Settlement Fire Department responded to this incident.
The fire was hot and stubborn, and resources were exhausted. Command, C-2, Mike Ikerd requested mutual aid from nearby Lockheed Fire Department for manpower resources. This department arrived on the scene and made a great contribution in getting this incident under control in that they afforded much needed rehab for the initial responders. The fire was declared to be under control 45 minutes after the first units arrived on scene. One fire fighter suffered a broken arm in fighting this fire, one received minor burns to his left hand and one experienced heat exhaustion. Overhaul took approximately 2 hours.
The home owners were not at home of the time of the fire. The home appears to be a total loss due to flame, heat, smoke and water damage. After investigation it appears that the fire was electrical in nature. It is possible the homes electrical circuits received a lightning strike during a recent thunderstorm.
For more information go to the White Settlement Fire Department website.
