The White Settlement Fire Department was dispatched to a residential structure fire at approximately 7:30 Sunday evening March 6, 2005. The call was placed to 911 by the resident who reported fire in the front bedroom of the one story brick residence where a child had been playing. There were 8 residents who all were able to escape without incident.
PD was on scene when I arrived. C4 Dan Taylor arrived and took command of the scene and reported fire showing. C3 Jim Nelson was not far behind.
Pump 3 with Engineer Kevin Richter, Lt. Brian Hekele, firefighter Mike Cochrane, and Craig Slovak were first on scene, within 2 minutes after my arrival. Fortunately a hydrant was directly across the street and a line was laid very quickly. Mike Cochrane took the nozzle as an attack was made thru the front entrance of the residence. However they encountered a virtual obstacle course upon entry making it difficult to get to the fire.
As a line was being laid to the hydrant, Pump 1 was arriving on the scene. Fire fighters Melvin Wilson, Robert Burleson, Barry Stuard, and Cpt. Tim Ellis made entrance thru the back door. This team arrived at the fire at the same time as the crew from pump 1. Both teams worked together to make short work of knocking down the fire.
The fire was brought under control after 30 minutes. The units which responded to this fire in addition to Pump 1 & 3 were Quint 1, Pump 2, Utility 1, Rescue 8 and Chief Jimmy Burnett. Chief Burnett took an active training role and was completely in the trenches with his men on this fire.
It appears the cause of the fire was electrical. The home owner reported previous electrical problems in the bedroom where the fire started. The home suffered extensive damage. Two bedrooms sustained heavy flame damage, with the rest of the home sustaining heavy smoke, heat and water damage.
Red cross was called to the scene as 8 resident were displaced. There were no injuries. Units overhauled the scene for 2 hours.
