Box 24-01 was dispatched at 0251hrs on the morning of April 24, 2003.
Residents at 12918 Autumn Drive were awoken by the sounds of heavy fire in an adjacent two-story single family dwelling on Deerhead Ct., which was still under construction but nearly completed.
The initial dispatch included units from Hillandale (Engine 241, Engine 121, Truck 12, Ambulance 249), Kensington (Engine 181, Aerial Tower 18) , and Burtonsville (Engine 152, Rescue Squad 15), as well as District Chief 1 and other officers. Engine 241 and Truck 12 arrived in under 5 minutes, and found the entire second floor of the house involved. E241 established water supply from a hydrant in front of the exposure on side D, and placed a handline in service to protect that exposure.
As additional units arrived, Truck 12 and Tower 18 prepared to place their ladder pipes in service. The fire took off with all the construction materials, forcing crews to use a hoseline to cool of the side of Truck 12, with the fire melting the plastic light lenses along the entire side of the truck, and bubbling some of the paint! Crews from E121 and E241 entered the side D exposure to put down the fire that had spread to this second building, also under construction. Meanwhile, due to the large fire volume, District Chief 1 requested a Safety Dispatch, bringing Truck 15 (Burtonsville), E161 (Silver Spring), and M129 (Hillandale). With Truck 12's ladder pipe in service, the majority of the fire was knocked in about 15 minutes, and the D exposure was saved from major damage by the aggressive interior attack of the first arriving engine crews. The main fire building was a total loss.
