FIRE FOCUS ❘ By Michael M. Dugan
A car fire in an attached garage is a common response for many fire departments around the world. This was the case when the Northbrook (IL) Fire Department responded to a car on fire in the garage. The building was a one-story ranch-style home, which is a very common type of private dwelling.
There were a couple of unique elements about this fire. First and foremost, the fire was in a classic car that the owner had just started. As any car enthusiast will tell you, “You must start your cars occasionally.” The owner of this car did just that, and the car caught fire but, being a car enthusiast with a collection of classic vehicles, he went to retrieve the keys to his second classic vehicle and got it out of the garage and down the street—making sure it was out of the fire department’s way. The problem was he did this before calling the fire department.
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When units arrived, they had a well-involved vehicle that had communicated to the garage and the garage’s structural components. As with most fires of this type, the department committed the first hoseline to the residence through the front door to protect the home. This one-story ranch was of ordinary construction and a concrete block wall covered with drywall separated the two-car garage from the residence. The owner did close the door to the garage, which protected the home from any major fire damage and prevented the possible total loss of the residence. Smoke did get into the home, but the damage was limited to smoke—not fire.
(1) Firefighters operate at a vehicle fire in a garage in Northbrook, Illinois. The temperature is in the mid-20s; note the ice in the driveway. (Photos by Tim Olk.)
(2) There are three handlines here—the first is in the front door of the home to protect the structure, the second is in the garage to extinguish the fire, and the third is going to the rear of the structure to extinguish the fire in the rear of the building.
(3) The fire in the rear of the building is being extinguished by the line in the rear yard.
(4) The fire is communicating to the siding on the residential portion of the building. A quick knockdown helps prevent fire from getting into the main house.
(5) Fire is knocked down by a hoseline in the rear.
(6) Cuts made on the exterior walls of the garage in the rear expose possible pockets of fire. Because the fire is up in the roof space, these walls are opened up.
(7) A member cuts the roof over the garage. Members exercise extreme care because of the snow and ice conditions. You can also see the impact of the heat on the eaves of the main structure, necessitating opening up an inspection hole in the main house roof.
(8) Members overhaul the garage. The damage to the main house is minimal because of the presence of a fire rated assembly between the garage and the main part of the structure.
The second hoseline went into the garage to extinguish the fire there. The fire had extended up into the attic area of the garage and involved the garage’s structural members. The garage had been insulated and retrofitted to keep the classic vehicles protected. Because of this, firefighters had to open up the roof above the garage, using caution because of the ice and snow issues. The weather in Northbrook on the day of this fire was in the mid-20s, so personnel had to exercise extreme care operating on the roof. They opened the roof over the garage and made a small hole in the main dwelling roof near the peak to ensure that no fire had gotten into the attic space of the main house.
The third hoseline went to the rear of the building, where the top plate of the walls and the roofline came together as the fire impinged on these areas and involved them in fire. The rear walls had to be opened up; because of the exterior plywood type sheathing, saws were required to cut the rear walls to ensure that there was no fire in this area.
Another issue, as seen in some of the photos, was ice—because of the weather conditions and the need for water to extinguish the fire. During the winter, all of Northbrook’s apparatus carry an ice melter, and as soon as an icing condition appeared, the apparatus operator took the time to spread an ice melter in the driveway, thus preventing injuries. Because of steps like this and safe operations on the roof, there were no injuries at this fire. The Northbrook Fire Department did a great job at this fire and protected the residential portion of this home.
Michael M. Dugan is a captain (ret.) and a 27-year veteran of the Fire Department of New York. He received the James Gordon Bennett Medal in 1992 and the Harry M. Archer Medal in 1993. He is also a former volunteer firefighter in the Halesite (NY) Fire Department and the recipient of the FDIC 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award.
