On Sunday, January 7th, 2001
at about 0920 hours, M-LFD Companies 4 and 5 were called to the
residence at 1 Lakeview Drive (off of Lake Road) in the Village of Lake
Success. Approximately two minutes after the initial call,
the tones were dropped again with Company #3 and the Ambulance
Unit added to the alarm based on "Lake Success Police
at scene reporting a working house fire."
Deputy Chiefs McGrath (8703) and Morris (8701) along with Tower Ladder 8744, were the
first units to go respond to the alarm. Additional Chiefs, Engines
from both Companies 4 and 5, Heavy Rescue 8730 and both M-LFD Ambulances
responded moments later.
Upon their arrival, units found
a split level residence with heavy fire showing in the
half of the house to the right of the front door. Two
1 3/4" hose lines were initially stretched off Engine 8758
(which was supplied with 5" by Engine 8746). The crew from
Tower Ladder 8744 threw a ground ladder up to the roof and started
cutting for ventilation purposes. An aggressive interior
attack by crews from Company #5 and Company #4 knocked a good bit
of the fire down as search crews confirmed that there
were no occupants. A third hose line was eventually stretched for safety purposes.
A special "attaboy" goes
out to Comapny #5 FF Marc Spagnoli, who assisted Company #5 FF Ed Peters
when the first floor collapsed partially during operations.
Since much of the crew of Heavy Rescue 8730 went "to work",
Company #1 was activated for a F.A.S.T. Team. Captain 1 and
his crew set up their equipment in front of the residence. Crews continued
operating and overhauling on both the interior and exterior
of the house.
The command post was being ran by Chief of Department Scida (8705) and Deputy Chief McGrath (8703) with Deputy Chief Morris (8701) as interior search command and Deputy Chief Strickland (8704) as interior extinguishment command. All Units were placed on a Signal 13 by C8705 about 2 1/4 hours after the initial alarm. |
