At 2128 hrs on August 17 Station 10 and 50 were dispatched to a structure fire with subjects trapped at 10606 Smithsneck Rd. T10 was in the district and arrived first to find a 2 story wood frame structure with heavy fire showing from the BC corner with exposure involvement to a Honda civic. There were live power lines to the structure so Dominion power was request. 101 was advised that 2 adults and possibly 3 children were inside. 101 established Smithsneck Rd. command and placed Q10 in rescue mode upon their arrival. Q10 arrived and forced entry on division 1. Once inside crews experienced heavy fire on divisions 1 and 2 while performing a primary search and fire suppression. Water supply was established via T10 and Chuckatuck T9 was requested. E53 arrived and was assigned RIT. Q10's aerial was placed in service from the AB side to knock down the vehicle fire and protect a storage building. At that point Q10 was flowing approx. 1400 gals a minute. E10 and E51 assisted with there 1000 gal. Booster tanks until the arrival of T9. R10 arrived to provide lighting and Cascade services. R10's crew was assigned to side C of the structure for exterior attack while interior crews held the fire to the back of the structure. An all clear was given by the interior crews and later command confirmed that all occupants were accounted for and were out of town. Suffolk E5 was dispatched to assist with overhaul and salvage. It took approx. 45 minutes to bring the fire under control and another 3 hours to start releasing units. There were 36 firefighters from Carrollton, Chuckatuck, Isle of Wight Vol. Rescue, Smithfield and Suffolk Fire department. Fire is under investigation with VSP handling. There were no injuries while firefighter endured high humidity and moderate ambient heat. At no time was water supply an issue even though the closest hydrant was approx. 4 miles away. Units on scene were: CH10, C10, Q10, E10, T10, R10, SQ10, Z10, E51, E53, R51, Support 50, CH50, E5, B2, T9, M61, C60.
For those not familiar with northern Isle of Wight and Northern Suffolk all the agencies on scene have developed into a team that works large incidents as if we were one department.
On behalf of Carrollton Vol. Fire Dept. Fire Chief Acree would like to thank assisting fire departments as well as Dominion Power and Red Cross for there hard work and support during this incident.
Chief Acree |
