Close Calls: Your House Fire, Your Electrical Hazard

Occasionally, we read about firefighters who, unfortunately, experienced a fire in their home. Sometimes, the results were tragic.

Below is another such incident, and it serves as a great reminder for all of us to make sure that we and all of our loved ones have, at the very minimum, working dual sensor (photoelectric and ionization) smoke alarms (10-year battery) for protection. It also serves as a great reminder for us to look into residential fire suppression/sprinkler systems. I’m serious! Although I don’t want to get too far off of the subject, day in and day out, we advocate for residential fire sprinklers, but when it comes to our own homes …

The details of the incident that are shared below also provide a reminder of the importance of size-up for downed power lines and of the danger to firefighters that result when power lines have fallen.

Response

This close call occurred on Fire Island, which is a barrier island that’s outside of New York City. It’s less than a mile wide and 32 miles long. It sits approximately 15 miles south of Long Island, and about 500 people live in the multiple communities year-round. In the summer, the population grows into the thousands.

The only way to get to the island is by boat. Traveling east and west on the island can be via boardwalk or other paths or the beach, all depending on the community and the tide.

Fire protection has its own unique challenges. Nine volunteer fire rescue agencies (all protecting communities that have hydrant/municipal water systems) provide emergency services. They are dispatched via the Suffolk County Fire Rescue Communications Center (911 Firecom), which is on the mainland of Suffolk County, Long Island. Because of the area’s unique configuration, four-wheel-drive emergency vehicles are standard; smaller vehicles are required in some communities because of the lack of roadways. (No personal vehicles are allowed, because Fire Island is a federally protected national park area.)

Homes are very close to one another.

Several of the communities provide EMS. When EMS is provided by an organization on the mainland, the Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau or Aviation Section usually provides the transport.

Fire Island has a very reliable, multichannel, UHF fire radio system (with redundancy and backup) that interconnects all of the agencies as well as to 911 Firecom.

Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services (SCFRES), among numerous support services, has a robust, well-respected and formal system of area fire rescue coordinators. They consist of veteran chief officers who function as advisors to incident command. All coordinators go through annual training by the county.

Fire Island Fire Coordinator Vern Henriksen (FC-26) responded to the incident and assisted with scene coordination and safety oversight.

Our thanks to Ocean Beach Fire Department (OBFD) Fire Chief George Hesse, Capt. Jake Putman (it was his house that was on fire) and past Assistant Chief Marty Liederman for their assistance with this piece. In addition to the OBFD, the Fire Island fire departments of Fair Harbor, Ocean Bay Park, and Point O’ Woods responded. The mainland fire departments of Bay Shore, East Islip and Islip were activated (but cancelled) for their marine units as well as staffing to be transported by boat.

Account from Putman

It truly was a matter of chance that I was staying at my beach house that night. It was Jan. 15, and I had no plans of being on the beach that night. I happened to have the fire department’s credit card. The department needed the credit card the following day, so I decided to come out to the beach and drop off the card.

After dropping off the card, I decided that it was late and that I should stay the night. I was awakened at approximately 3:25 a.m. because of the power going out. Thinking nothing of it, because power outages happen from time to time on Fire Island because of wind, I lied down again and started to fall back asleep.

After a couple of minutes, I noticed an electrical and wood burning smell. It was at this point that I knew that something wasn’t right. I walked out of the house and located the fire on the back of the property and immediately called 9-1-1.

I then went to the street, where I saw that one of the primary power lines fell onto the metal fencing, which caused the entire perimeter of the fence to arc. A secondary fire was caused by a downed line touching trees and brush in the back of the property. That fire spread to a small wooden structure. As hard as it was to watch all of this unfold, I decided not to try to put out the fire and to wait for units to arrive. The dangers of dealing with the live primary wire alone were not worth it. Seconds felt like minutes being alone in this situation, but help was on scene quickly.

Hesse and Probationary Firefighter Justin Seltzer were first to arrive. The three of us were able to contain the fire to the small wooden structure with water cans while we waited for the power company to cut power and for fire apparatus to arrive. Units arrived shortly after that, and power was turned off. (It should be noted that a senior employee of PSE&G Long Island lives and works on Fire Island.)

It’s a scary feeling waking up to this situation, given that I normally respond to someone else’s emergency.

It was a windy, middle-of-the-winter night. Resources at that time of year are slim, but a quick response was the reason this didn’t escalate. I couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who responded.

Account from Hesse

At 3:36 a.m., we were dispatched for a structure fire that was reported by a neighbor. 

A second caller, OBFD member Jake Putman, stated that wires were down on the house and that there was smoke in the house and an outside fire.

I marked responding at 3:40 a.m. and arrived at 3:44 a.m. with an initial crew of two firefighters. On arrival, visible fire was observed in the side yard of Putman’s residence. A downed electrical wire was found to have fallen onto a metal fence, energizing both the fence and the surrounding ground area. This created a dangerous environment, and all personnel immediately were advised to proceed with extreme caution.

Because of the active electrical hazard, I requested that dispatch notify PSE&G Long Island to shut down the electric grid to ensure the safety of responding crews.

Fire was confirmed in the side yard of the structure, with fire and smoke showing. I transmitted a working structure fire and requested activation of the winter mutual-aid plan. All west end Fire Island departments were activated, with mainland departments from Bay Shore, East Islip and Islip responding.

On scene (prior to apparatus arrival), I had Seltzer with me. Armed with three water cans, Seltzer, Putman and I made our way around the front yard to the west side yard using water cans to keep fire from spreading to the main house. The side fence, small storage sheds and decking were on fire.

Engine 3-20-5 arrived, parking adjacent to the fire on the corner of two streets, and tapped the hydrant on the corner.

Following my size-up, the mainland departments were cancelled, because the situation was being managed effectively by the OBFD’s first-alarm assignment.

The fire was brought under control at 4:15 a.m. Overhaul operations began immediately thereafter. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire was determined to be electrical. The incident highlighted the importance of coordinated mutual-aid and hazard awareness during size-up.

Comments from Goldfeder

I always have had an interest in unique, unusually challenged fire departments. The departments on Fire Island fit that bill. I first visited those departments in the early 1970s when I worked for the Insurance Services Office (ISO), inspecting municipal fire protection.

The OBFD’s largest rigs are a mini-pumper in most communities, but rest assured, equipped with large-diameter hoses, deck guns and more, the vehicles do an excellent job protecting their communities.

Fire is a huge risk on Fire Island. This is because of the close proximity of structures to one another, a preponderation of natural vegetation, the island’s isolation and limited staffing, particularly off-season, but the system of automatic mutual-aid as well as mainland fire boats and staffing response have an excellent history of success, particularly given the risk.
In this incident, the importance of the initial size-up, identifying conditions, identifying the downed power lines (and their impacting metal fences) and a heavy first-alarm assignment minimized things getting worse.

Electrical shock and electrocution have cost the lives of firefighters because of the nature of the incidents that we respond to. Crash scenes, wildland fires, storm-related responses, and the use of ground and aerial ladders all resulted in tragic, electrical-related losses. Just last year, a firefighter in Delaware tragically lost his life at a vehicle crash scene, where power lines were down.

Incident commanders should expect electrical risks at every fire and ensure that crews do, too. When initially sizing up and continually thereafter (command, company officers and firefighters), watch and listen for wires down. If you see them, announce that as “priority traffic” and create a hot zone (fire line tape, cones, etc.) far away from that risk. Members arrive focused on the fire, and a dangerous risk such as this might be missed.

A full size-up—and continuing size-up, with updates, so everyone who is on scene is aware—and communicated situational awareness help to minimize a tragic outcome.

Your initial radio report following your size-up should include:

• Describe the building: size, height, occupancy.
• What is the problem?: What do you see? Smoke? Fire? Where is it coming from/location (e.g., “Alpha near Bravo, second floor, heavy smoke)?
• What is your plan (incident action plan)?: Companies to do what? Tasks? Where/location? What are the objectives?
• What is the strategy?: Is this an offensive or defensive operation? Announce that immediately.
• Identify/name command: “Establishing Maple Avenue command. The command is located in Chief 8703’s car, on the street on the Alpha/Bravo corner.”
• Do you have enough resources?: Consider your immediate tasks, and then what else might be needed? What if the incident gets worse? What if there is a mayday? What if there are victims? Does your initial alarm assignment cover all of that? In most places, the answer is no. When you have a working incident, strike the second alarm to ensure that you will have enough when the help is needed, not 10 minutes later.
  For a one-story, 1,200-sq.-ft., single-family dwelling, consider these tasks:
• Stretch three 1¾-inch handlines (attack, backup, secondary deployment).
• Pump and hydrant: two firefighters; search: two firefighters; assist search/rescue: two firefighters; ventilation: two firefighters; RIT/on deck: three firefighters; command: two chief officers. That’s 20 firefighters (and two incident command-level bosses) for the most basic of tasks.
• Consider all of the potential tasks that might be required and apply them to the known required staffing for your first alarm and additional alarms—and do that before the fire.