The E9 Captain and two firefighters entered 26 West Mendocino through the front door with the 1-3/4 inch hoseline. Encountering moderate heat and very heavy smoke conditions, with no visible flames, they proceeded through the older section toward the rear of the house. The E9 Captain made an inspection hole in the ceiling with a pike pole, but found no fire in the attic area of the original structure.
The E6 Captain and one of the firefighters then deployed a standpipe pack to advance
a back-up line into the interior. While the other firefighter fed the line from the door, the Captain advanced the 1-3/4 inch line toward the rear of the house. Noting that Engine 9’s line had gone to the right, he took the back-up line toward the left side of the house, where fire was visible in the kitchen area.
The Truck 4 Captain, engineer and firefighter also entered through the front door at that time. While the engineer assisted the E6 Captain, who was advancing the back-up line, the T4 Captain and firefighter attempted to perform an interior search. Their search effort was limited by the heat and smoke conditions, so the T4 Captain went back outside to look for an alternative access to the rear, while the firefighter continued the search. Finding no alternative access, he returned to the interior to continue the search.
While the T4 Captain was outside, the firefighter from Truck 4 had encountered the crew on the back-up line in the kitchen. The E6 firefighter, who had been feeding the line at the door, had entered and followed E9’s line until he joined with the E9 crew. At this point, both lines were operating on the fire in the large room at the rear of the ground floor, but none of the personnel inside the house were aware of the second floor above that area.
Next » Second Alarm Companies
Save to del.icio.us
