Six-alarm blaze held to main structure
A rapidly spreading, six-alarm fire destroyed the main portion of a middle school in Huntsville, Ala., last April. Although the fire occurred while the building was fully occupied, drills and preplanned fire routes enabled all 650 students to escape with only minor injuries. In fact, the evacuation went so smooth that it was essentially complete when the first-due engines arrived.
The school’s main two-story building, built in 1944, was of wood-frame construction with
wooden walls, floors and lockers. During the 1960s, additions were added on the west, northeast and north sides of the main building. Fortunately, all of these additions were firestopped.
Sometime after 8:30 a.m., the school custodian discovered the auditorium’s curtains ablaze. The local alarm was activated and an announcement made on the intercom system started evacuation procedures. The fire department was called—12 minutes later.
As the first engine arrived at the scene at 8:45 a.m., the officer in charge radioed that there was heavy smoke. The fire eventually went to six alarms, calling out 65 fire fighters from nine fire companies and nine pieces of apparatus with 3000 feet of 1 1/2inch hose, over 5000 feet of 2 1/2-inch hose and over 4500 feet of 3-inch hose. Also, 150 feet of ground ladders, an elevating platform and an aerial ladder were used.
The outside temperature was 41° with 18-mph north winds gusting to 37 mph. Since the school faced south, the thick, wind-driven smoke obscured the front of the building where two engines and an aerial were set up. The command post, platform and four engines were on the windward side, and a seventh pumper was used for relay operations. In addition to reduced visibility, unfavorable wind conditions and rapid fire spread, access for hose streams into the main building was hampered by thick, fireproof coverings over the windows.
Fire fighters were ordered to withdraw from the main building and concentrate efforts on saving the adjacent structures. This plan was successful. Fire fighters held the blaze to the main building. After three hours, the fire was under control.
Inspectors and the fire marshal were called to the fireground during the incident because of a suspicion of arson stemming from a previous fire several weeks earlier in the same school. Huntsville’s Arson Strike Force, consisting of the Huntsville Fire Department, the Huntsville Police Department, the fire marshal, the sheriff, the -Madison Company district attorney, the Alabama Forensic Laboratory and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, was put into motion. After intensive investigation, a juvenile was arrested, charged with first-degree arson and, as of this writing, is awaiting trial.
—Chief W. W. Varnedoe, Jr.
Green Mountain Volunteer Fire Department Inc., Huntsville, Ala.
