Virginia Crews Battle Structure Fire in Oppressive Heat

Temperatures were in the high 90s, with the humidity it felt 109 degrees, when Richmond firefighters were called to battle a blaze.

Tones sounded at 11 a.m. on June 5 for a fire in the Churchill district in the East End of Richmond.

Engine 11, Truck 8, Quint 15, Quint 6, Rescue 1 and Battalion 1 responded to 1100 block of 24th Street for a row house fire with reports coming in for possible people trapped. A large column of smoke was visible from downtown Richmond as this box was being dispatched.

Considering the 90 degree weather, the obvious working fire, and the possibility of numerous people trapped, Fire Chief Creecy called dispatch and requested an upgrade to the assignment. The additional call dispatched Tower 5, Quint 10, and Rescue 2 to the scene.

Crews found a two-story residential duplex with heavy smoke showing from all sides. PIO 1, Lt. Mike Oprandy positioned in the alley to get a view of the Charlie side. He radioed to command that there was heavy fire blowing out of the rear of the second floor. Two residents had escaped the exposure apartment, but were unsure if everyone was out from the other apartment.

Engine 11, led by Lt. Chris Aycock, and Rescue 1's crew mounted an aggressive interior attack and search. Rescuers, led by Lt. Ray Neville, advanced to the second floor ahead of the hose line to check for victims.

They made a push past the main fire rooms, crawling on their stomachs and feeling the searing heat with zero visibility. The engine crew came up right behind them and started to attack the fire. No one was found.

The crew of Quint 15 pulled a second line to the second floor of the exposure side and stopped the fire from spreading to that area of the cockloft, while firefighters on Quint 6 advanced a third line into the primary structure to back-up the initial attack line.. The crew from Truck 8 performed truck ops, while firefighters on Tower 5 was assigned the R.I.T.

Residents are touting a working smoke detector for waking them up and alerting them to the fire. The smoke detector is one that firefighters installed last year with Richmond's free smoke detector program.