September 09, 2005
Doesn't take long
Two weeks ago today, I responded to a mid-afternoon call for a fire in a mobile home park. I was sitting at my computer at work, typing schedules and rosters into the computer, so I could pick right up and go. While I responded, the chief arrived and reported heavy fire threatening other trailers and liquid natural gas tanks. He also notified the responding units that everyone was out of the trailer, which had been occupied at the time the fire started.
As I pulled off the highway onto the lane the fire was, an older firefighter flagged me down for a ride down the lane. He didn't want to get parked in so he rode in with me, although I parked short of the burning trailer to stay out of the way of the engines that were still coming.
I started snapping pictures of the blaze as soon as I reached it. I stayed back more than I sometimes would since a car sat feet from the fire, as did the natural gas tanks. Something sounding like ammunition also was cooking off. The fire engines arrived shortly, and once the hose was stretched with water flowing, the fire died down quickly. In looking at the time stamps on my photos, I took about 40 images in less than two minutes, from the time I arrived until the firefighters knocked down most of the impressive flame. I snapped another 30 or so shots during the overhaul process.
As the fire died down, we got a scare when there was a report that a child from the trailer was unaccounted for. Two searches of the trailer proved negative and everyone breathed easier.
If my memory is correct, it takes only 8 minutes for fire to complete engulf a mobile home. About half of the trailer was burning when I arrived, and the smoke had thickened and darkened noticeably in that time as the flame intensified. I wonder if the fire department got there about five minutes after the fire started.
