WHEN THE FIRE IS IN YOUR FIRE STATION

WHEN THE FIRE IS IN YOUR FIRE STATION

December 15, 1996, was the worst day in the history of the Oppelo (AR) Volunteer Fire Department. At 3:14 a.m., the dispatcher announced the following: “Attention, all Oppelo Fire Department personnel: Your station is on fire. Repeat. Your station is on fire.”

THE INCIDENT

A deputy sheriff, who is also a volunteer in the Morrilton Fire Department (MFD), was in his car in Oppelo when he heard an explosion over the sounds of his running car motor and radio. When he looked in the direction of the explosion, he saw that the office area of the Morrilton City Hall was fully involved. He radioed Dispatch, asking that the Oppelo and Morrilton fire departments be paged.

As my son Travis, a firefighter/EMT, and I prepared to respond to the tones, we were stunned by the dispatcher`s announcement that our own City Hall and fire station were on fire! Before leaving the house, I asked my wife, who is the 911 relief dispatcher, to call Dispatch and request that the Morrilton Fire Department respond.

During the one-half-mile ride from our house to the station, I radioed, “We have flames showing.” On arrival, I could see a firefighter/EMT opening the personnel door on the north side of the fire station; another firefighter/first responder was with him. They tried to enter but were driven back by a heavy black smoke line that was only two feet off the floor. I then tried to enter. I could see that the fire had advanced from City Hall into Bays 3 and 4. Brush Truck 1 was engulfed, and the hood area of Tanker 2 was on fire. The smoke and heat pushed me back. I decided to push Bay Door 1 in with my personal truck to ventilate the station. As I pulled forward, I could see other firefighters arriving. I placed the bumper against the door and pushed the rollup door into Bay 1 until my bumper met Engine 3`s bumper. As I turned my truck around, a firefighter locked the hubs in on the four-wheel drive.

A chain was hooked to the bumper hitch, and the door started to come off as I pulled forward. When the door hit the ground, I pulled it across the street. Two things happened. The smoke line began to lift, and the fire intensified as a result of the fresh air`s entering the station.

We tried to get Engine 3 out; it would not start at first but it ultimately did, and the vehicle was driven out of the building.

We set up the pump and pulled off a 134-inch preconnect. Another firefighter and I donned an SCBA from the engine, preparing for entry. I took the charged line. We advanced the line in front of Engine 4 and pushed back the fire into the newest part of the fire station and City Hall.

We attempted to start Truck 5. It cranked but would not start. I then advanced the line in farther to aid in pulling fresh air in behind the nozzle when we switched to fog. Truck 5 finally started. I yelled to the men on the other side to clear the way. When I backed up from the front of the truck, smoke and steam rolled across the cab. Truck 5 was moved out of Bay 2.

Unlike most service trucks, Oppelo`s Truck 5 has a PTO pump and 300 gallons of water on board, and it was about to be put to use. With Bay 2 now clear in front of me, I advanced to the side of Tanker 2, extinguishing the cab fire and fogging the ceiling with the 134-inch line, driving the flames back into the conference room and City Hall offices.

At this time, the firefighters outside yelled to me that Engine 3`s 600-gallon booster tank was about to run out of water. The pump on Truck 5 had been set up, and the door on Bay 4 was being pulled off into the street. We pulled a 134-inch line with the pump set at 300 psi. The fire again was being pushed back into the conference room and the City Hall offices. A 212-inch line from Engine 3 was hand-laid to a hydrant about 300 yards away.

HELP ARRIVES

The Morrilton Fire Department arrived and laid in a four-inch large-diameter supply line from another hydrant. We now had a water supply. Assistant Chief Doyle McDonald reported to me and asked for Morrilton`s assignments. I asked him to help us finish the knockdown in the city offices and then to start the mop-up. The fire was contained and almost out. I now was able to revert from firefighter to assistant chief and could start looking at the big picture.

ARSON SUSPECTED

Soon, I began to pick up information that indicated the fire might not be accidental. We noted, for example, that all the compartment doors on Engine 3 were open, one of the SCBA boxes from Engine 3 was sitting on the floor in Bay 1 with the lid open, and the medical kit on Truck 5 had been opened and was hanging out of the compartment door when the truck was driven through Bay Door 2.

I asked McDonald to contact Dispatch on the MFD frequency (our repeater and radio system were down) and request that a state police investigator respond, since arson was suspected.

The MFD crews were cautioned that the scene should be disturbed as little as possible so that any evidence could be preserved. Opello`s firefighters were then briefed on our preliminary findings, and a photographer from a local newspaper was asked to photograph the scene. [I, however, forgot a primary rule of arson investigation–to take a picture of the crowd (some arsonists sometimes remain among the crowd). Fortunately, the photographer had already photographed the crowd.]

As we began pulling our people out, we attempted to preserve as much evidence as possible. Representatives from the Criminal Investigation Division and the Conway County Sheriff`s Office arrived. Other signs pointing to arson were discovered during the investigation: The drop box for water and sewer bills had been torn off the wall and its contents had been gone through, a fireproof filing cabinet had been hit eight times with a fire department ax, the bottom drawer of one of the fireproof filing cabinets had been opened, and all of the drawers in the city clerk`s and mayor`s desks had been pulled out and gone through.

The Morrilton Fire Department was asked to take all calls for Oppelo until further notice. We estimated that our department would be out of service for about 24 to 48 hours. Oppelo firefighters were released at about 4 a.m. and asked to return to work at 6:30 a.m. One firefighter volunteered to remain with the covering Morrilton Fire Department crew.

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS

The following information was pieced together from the crime scene and personal observations. It may differ from the findings of the Sheriff`s Office and the state police.

The blinds from a window in the conference room were found outside the building; one of the window screens was under it. The other screen was in the City Hall parking lot. It had been bent from prying. One of the windows in the conference room was open (up), and the back door was open. The drawers in all of the desks in City Hall were open. None of the fire department offices had been touched (they were at the opposite end of the building). The fireproof filing cabinet had been struck with an ax. The deepest burned area (“V” pattern) was in the vicinity of a storage area for computer checks and water bills.

No trailers or spalling was found. All compartment doors on the engines had been opened. The contents of the medical kit had been scattered on the bay floor. A water/ sewer department service truck in the chain-link fenced compound had one of the wipers torn off; the wiper was used to damage the truck. A side mirror had been knocked off the same truck, and its toolbox had been rummaged. Several water meters had been thrown around the compound. The door on an outer building had been pried, but no entry was made.

Our department was back in service within 11 hours. The first call to which we responded was for medical assistance–an elderly woman had suffered a stroke. Since our ALS supplier units were un-available at the time, we loaded the medical equipment in a city service truck, the only city vehicle left untouched by the fire or vandals. Other medical personnel from our department responded in the mayor`s truck. Our ALS supplier unit arrived on the scene in about 10 minutes and transported the victim.

As a precaution, the Morrilton Fire Department will be dispatched with the Oppelo Fire Department to all structure fires until all Oppelo`s engines have been pump-tested, hose-tested, refurbished, or replaced.

LESSONS LEARNED

The following actions will help to minimize damage and time out of service resulting from break-ins such as the one that occurred in our department:

Replace rollup door poly ropes with steel cables that reach to the floor through a series of eye bolts. They then can be tripped from the floor even when the temperature is high enough to burn or melt ropes at ceiling level.

Install central station-monitored burglar alarms and smoke detectors in unstaffed stations.

Install sprinkler systems.

Store records in fireproof filing cabinets or safes.

Store equipment in the same place on engines so that it can be found easily.

All department members, including chiefs, captains, and so on, must know how to use all equipment in the station and on the engines.

Check insurance policies to make sure coverage is adequate.

Have a plan ready for covering your area. We found that insurance companies are slow to pay, even when the public is being denied emergency services.

Take pictures at all fires. The photos can be used for training as well as for evidence.

If your station and City Hall are in-volved in the same fire, be prepared to fight City Hall. The insurance company will cut one check for the building and contents. You will have to prove to the Council that your turnouts, helmets, SCBA refilling system, and so on, are more important than carpeting, awnings, and the like. n

Truck 5 was driven through the Bay 2 door. The open compartment doors on the truck were among the indications that arson might be involved. (Photo by Dennis Massingill.)

(Top) Large “V” pattern on the wall designates the most severely burned area, which was in the vicinity of a storage area for computer checks and water bills. (Photos by Dennis Massingill.) (Middle) The supply line to Oppelo`s Engine 3 has been cut. Note smoking filing cabinet records on the right. (Bottom) Firefighters mop up Bay 4. The fire from the City Hall offices had advanced into this bay and Bay 3.

(Top) Engine 3 was used to fight the fire. It was just two bays away from Tanker 2 (bottom), which was destroyed. Note the dump tank frame on top of the tank. (Photos by author.)