Frederick County House Fire
 
By Captain Christopher Harris
November 21, 2016
 

Frederick Co. Box 17-40. At 1645 hrs, Engine/Tanker 84, along with units from New Windsor, Winfield, Mount Airy, Westminster and Sykesville, were dispatched to assist Frederick County Station 17 for a house fire with 2 people reported trapped at 9001 Tarr Drive off of Weldon Road. As units were responding, “Frederick” dispatch advised units that they received additional information that everyone had evacuated the house. Units were also advised that there was fire near the wood stove on the first floor and attic of the structure.

Frederick Co. Medic 17 arrived first, reporting a single family rancher style residence with fire showing through the roof and heavy smoke conditions throughout. FC Chief 17-2 arrived and established “Tarr Road Command”. He also immediately requested the “Rapid Intervention Dispatch”, which added Rescue Squad 8 to the incident. FC Engine 172 arrived and began an aggressive interior fire attack with Chief 17-1 as ‘Division 1’. Command was established and it was confirmed that there was no rescue or injuries.

The fire was quickly knocked down; and after other units arrived on-scene, additional lines were deployed. At one point during the operation, personnel were evacuated due to a loss of water supply. This was quickly taken care of and crews returned to complete the extinguishment of the fire. The fire was placed under control after about 30 minutes and ‘Command’ began releasing units at 1817 hrs.

The cause of the fire was determined to be a malfunctioning wood stove. The house received extensive fire, smoke and water damage that was estimated at $200,000. Red Cross was also on-scene to assist the occupants of the residence.

You can listen to the entire incident using this link: https://youtu.be/tBCf7cn-ktU

Units On-Scene: E/T 84, RS 8 (Union Bridge) FCE 172, FCE 171, FCTa 17, FCA 179, FC Medic 17, FC Chief 17-2 (Libertytown); E 101, PM 109, Duty 10 (New Windsor); E 141, E 142, Ta 14, A 149 (Winfield); E 12, Ta 1 (Mount Airy); TW 3, Chief 3-1 (Westminster); TW 12 (Sykesville); FCE 162 (Woodsboro); FC Battalion 902, FC Safety 901, FC FM 901