It was only a car fire, but the smoke billowing from the second floor of the Beau Rivage parking garage Thursday afternoon caused a bit of a scare.
The fire engine stopped at the sidewalk instead of barreling up the ramp to the scene of the fire. The overhead clearance was too low to allow its passage. What would prevent the fire from spreading to other vehicles in the densely parked garage?
But firefighters with the city of Biloxi put their training to quick response and contained the fire. They knew the scenario. Parking garages like the one at Beau Rivage are equipped with special plumbing that can be integrated with pumper trucks and the equipment that firefighters carry on their backs.
As one group of Biloxi firefighters climbed the stairs into the garage, another group hooked up a hose from a hydrant to the pumper truck. A second hose was extended from the truck to the dry stand pipe. Water jetted up the pipe system to the second floor fire.
"We have what is called 'high-rise packs' for parking garages and high-rise structures that the crewmen carry up staircases and hook to the stand pipe," said Kirk Noffsinger, deputy fire chief of operations. "They have to bring all the equipment with them."
The fire badly damaged a white Chevrolet Blazer with an Alabama license and caused some damage to a nearby vehicle.
"Firefighters train specifically for this," said Biloxi Fire Chief David Roberts. "Everything worked pretty smoothly. We do have car fires in parking garages. It's not 'if'. It's 'when.' "
Distributed by the Associated Press
