Click here for slow motion version
New info at 8:30 PM:
STATter911.com has exchanged emails with Baltimore Fire Department Chief Jim Clack this evening. The chief has given us a preliminary run down of what happened leading up to what he says appears to have been a flashover at the fire on Northeast Avenue this morning. (I know, as is normal with these videos, there is a raging debate as to whether this was actually a flashover, backdraft, or something else. As usual, I will let you, and those investigating the incident be the judge.)
According to Chief Clack the fire started in the basement of an occupied row house and appears to have been burning for “a while” before the fire department arrived. The first engine took a line through the front door to the rear kitchen area. The chief says that crew had some trouble finding the basement stairs. They were in the kitchen when it flashed.
We have been told it is the officer of that crew who was admitted to the hospital in stable condition with burns to the ears, neck and face.
Another engine company went to the rear with a line to the outside stairwell leading to the basement. The chief says that crew was just starting down those stairs “when the fireball came up the stairwell into the back yard as well”.
Chief Clack tells us, “The first truck vented some skylights on the roof as well as the front basement windows before the explosion.”
The chief also writes, “Lots of ‘personal” property’ in the basement made getting to the seat of the fire very difficult.”
UPDATE: Five firefighters were hurt in the flashover. One remains hospitalized in stable condition. Two other were hurt during overhaul.
From the AP:
A Baltimore fire official says five firefighters were injured battling a blaze at a rowhouse.
Fire Department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright says when firefighters arrived at the rowhouse on Northeast Avenue around 6 a.m. Friday they found heavy smoke and fire coming from the basement spreading to the first floor.
Cartwright says one firefighter suffered a first-degree burn and may have fractured his arm. He was taken to Bayview Burn Center, where he is listed in stable condition.
Four more firefighters with less serious injuries were taken to other hospitals and are also in stable condition.
Cartwright says it took about a half hour to control the blaze and the cause is under investigation.
He says it’s not yet clear whether anyone was home when the fire broke out.
Also on STATter911 …
- Close call in Baltimore: Fireground audio from Truck 12 mayday at fire next door to firehouse. One firefighter serious, but stable condition. – April 7, 2010
- New, longer version of Baltimore smoke explosion video. Shows evacuation and efforts to get to injured firefighters. – January 17, 2010
- UPDATED: Baltimore union says ‘firehouse roulette’ was behind injuries to Firefighter Jeffrey Novack & civilians. PIO questions union’s claims. Second press release blasts PIO. – April 9, 2010
- Special to STATter911.com: Must see series of photos of flashover that ignites firefighter’s gear. The story from Erwin, North Carolina. – December 17, 2009
I don’t care what you might call it, perhaps flashback is best, my crew and I have learned several things from this valuable video and we will use this new knowledge on future scenes. You ‘bashing’ folks are wasting time and energy and are just plain insulting and showing your own foolishness. Look, learn and perhaps save your butt.
@Rookie;
The goal of ventilating high is to allow the superheated (above their fire point) and oxygen-deprived gases an opportunity to exit, due to their buoyancy, the highest point. Once outside, they burn freely. You can find a few videos on the internet of such ventilation; as the gas & smoke is leaving the vent hole, it is not aflame, but as it progresses a few feet, it lights off, hopefully harmlessly above the fire building.
Conversely, if such a vent-hole wasn’t made, and someone introduced air via the front door, the gases would mix and light within the structure, with consequences depending on the amount of flammable gases, air, and the containment they’re held in.
But, as with everything in life, and especially in the fire service, “stuff” happens. Maybe the fire gases were in an area of the building that doesn’t communicate with the area ventilated by the truck. Who knows.
I know that the DCFD truck companies are fairly quick to the roof, and at most rowhouses, are pretty quick to open the roof hatch. Despite this, our engines don’t wait for the trucks to open up before entering. I doubt Baltimore is much different. The way we operate works most of the time. It works better when everybody does their job, so that the building is properly ventilated, laddered, and lines are in place.
If you can identify the fire compartment early, and ventilate it, you can ensure that the products of combustion, and steam from extinguishment, exit rapidly rather than burn your guys and any victims overcome inside. This can be done by an OV team, or by the first hose team, with their hose stream. THIS fire doesn’t look like it’s particularly easy to identify the fire compartment from the exterior, or, for that matter, the interior. In this case, you’ve got to vent early, from the top down, and hopefully if you have any sudden release of energy, it dissipates quickly through the fully-cleared windows and roof hatch, before it gets absorbed by the men working inside.
Hey “Anon” you got me…. I don’t post often and you got me… Sorry to anyone who thought I was bashing Anonymous, JUST HIT A NERVE. FTM-PTB
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Teach all members who are operating from the exterior positions that you can use the building for protection instead of standing directly in front of the “mouth” of the beast. Give the fire the respect it deserves as it never shows all its cards on arrival. First in Eng. company can pull just past the explosive direction of flying glass to save from pulling shards out of the rig and each other. Treat that outside square footage as part of the fire and as hard as it is for the IC…., stay off to the side( IC Board) and relay the information that the interior officer needs to bring his people home safely. As always, the direct and accurate radio information given to the IC will help in choice of attack. And please listen to your veteran smoke readers who are very special and can save your rear end.
Found new location of video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO3zQXx4gIo