Heat Overcomes Two NC Firefighters at House Fire

July 20, 2019
Two firefighters among the 33 who responded to the Wilson house fire were evaluated for heat stress and overexertion.

Jul. 20--Firefighers responding to a house fire in Wilson were treated for heat exhaustion Thursday afternoon.

"The weather conditions with excessive heat and humidity presented dangerously hot conditions for the fire suppression teams," Deputy Chief Ben Smith of Wilson Fire/Rescue Services said in a report on the incident.

Fire crews were dispatched to a home at 3610 Columbia Ave. NW at 6:22 p.m.. When fire crews arrived at 6:27 p.m., flames were consuming the structure. No one was home at the time of the fire, the cause of which was determined to be accidental.

"Due to the volume of fire and weather conditions, we deployed all our resources to the scene and called back off-duty personnel to provide coverage to the community," Smith said in his report.

Two firefighters among the 33 who responded to the fire were evaluated for heat stress and overexertion.

"The heat and humidity levels do wear on the firefighters pretty quick," Smith said. "First and foremost, we try to practice good nutrition and good hydration year-round, and physical fitness is our first approach because nutrition and preparation actually starts before the event ever happens, so we try to preach that and practice that year-round."

The most seriously affected firefighter was with the first crews to attack the fire.

"He was on the first unit that went in on the fire, and it was a pretty significant fire," Smith said. Smith said the firefighter is recovering well. "We actually took him off the truck for the rest of the night last night just as a precautionary (measure)," Smith said. "He was doing great. His body was recovering. So we take follow-up measures now. We get behind him. We support him as we would any of our team members, and we are sending him for follow-up evaluation with the city of Wilson health clinic."

Smith said the department benefits from a good relationship with Wilson County EMS.

"They come out with the paramedics. They evaluate our teams," Smith said. "They check them for signs of heat exposure and heat stress, and if need be, we take actions to remove them from the environment until we can get their body to recover from the impact of that heat and the operations."

If possible, Smith said the department will limit the time a firefighter is fighting the fire during extreme hot weather.

"The safety of our community and the safety of our personnel is absolutely first and foremost," Smith said. "If we are in a position that I can lessen their exposure to that intense heat and that environment, then I will absolutely take those steps."

Smith said the Wilson department is blessed with good firefighters. "In a situation like this, we call back off-duty team members," Smith said. "They were quick to respond. We reached out to our partners in the county, our volunteer departments, and notified them that all of our resources were committed to the fire so that they were ready to pick up and respond if we had another incident. We reached out to the Silver Lake Volunteer Fire Department in particular. They came in to help us with air supply to our tanks. It takes a team to make this work."

Smith said the damage to the house, valued at $149,289, was significant.

"The potential is there for a total loss. That is ultimately determined by the insurance companies and the adjustments on it," Smith said. "Unfortunately, these occupants did lose quite a bit. It is really a sad situation as it always is. There are some items in that house that are salvageable like clothing, but there was some significant damage to this house and they are going to lose a lot. Four people occupied the home, which is owned by Westle M. Thibeaux. The American Red Cross responded to the fire to assist the occupants.

___ (c)2019 The Wilson Daily Times (Wilson, N.C.)

Visit The Wilson Daily Times (Wilson, N.C.) at www.wilsontimes.com

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