This video is from a two-alarm fire in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday. Here are some details from FirestCoastNews.com:
The cold weather may have led to multiple home fires on the First Coast this weekend, stretching first responders and the Red Cross thin.
State Fire Marshal Alex Sink said it appears a fire that destroyed a portable classroom at Lakeside Elementary in Clay County Saturday night started in an attic heater unit. And a fire at the Links at Windsor Park Apartments started in a fireplace, according to a spokesman from Jacksonville Fire and Rescue.
“That was unusual, unquestionably. A matter of fact, the first responding crews … I can assure you they have not had a second alarm within an apartment fire complex in many many years,” said spokesman Tom Francis. The fire left 19 families homeless.
Firefighters were called to 12 substantial fires between Friday and today, which Francis said is about average. What is unusual is the amount of people affected by those fires, who are now reaching out for aid.
Also on STATter911 …
- Raw video and news report from deadly Jacksonville, Florida fire. One dead and numerous rescues from midday apartment blaze. – November 4, 2009
- House fire in Jacksonville, Florida. Video with fireground audio. – April 17, 2010
- Raw video from another second alarm in Prince George’s County. A newsworthy two days for PGFD. – April 8, 2010
- Fireground audio from fatal 3-alarm fire. Multiple rescues from Jacksonville, Florida blaze. – November 7, 2009
“That was unusual, unquestionably. A matter of fact, the first responding crews … I can assure you they have not had a second alarm within an apartment fire complex in many many years,” said spokesman Tom Francis. Thanks for the info Tom, but it’s obvious from watching the video that they don’t do apartment complex fires …
Master stream operations underway and four firefighters operating in what appears to be a collapse zone with restricted egress. Does Jacksonville FD even have a Safety Officer?
Don’t worry, the master streat that starts at 3:00 isn’t doing anything anyway. It rains harder than that.
I love how “we” always seem to be the first to throw jabs at a FD when we see a 4 minute video of them in action. Here is some FYI that you may or may not know….. The day of this apartment fire , there happened to 5 working fires around the same time frame. The tactical frequencies were all being used for other events, so as usual communications were bad. This day they were almost too confusing with bleed over and companies not knowing exactly which frequency was working the fire that they were assigned to. On top of that there was a poor water supply in the complex which of course only added to the frustration and confusion. The unknown can go on and on and really we know about them because we have watched or read a comment about our own department that wasn’t really a true reflection of the way the department conducts business as a norm. By the way ‘Crowbar” – yes JFRD has 2 safety officers assigned to each shift. On this fire the official safety officers were working different fires around the city that day. I will however agree with you in that the lack of a safety officer doesn’t negate the responsibility of the riding District Chiefs but from the looks of things they had there hands full too. Remember.. we all get caught on video doing things we wouldn’t our rookies to see.
Just thoughts.
A proud member of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.