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| 2-28 Fire Response |
 On the evening of February 28, EC Chris Hodgdon - KE5IGO, responded to a house fire in Kaufman, representing Kaufman County ARES, Inc. and Kaufman County CERT, Inc. This was a single dwelling fire located on Melody Circle in Kaufman. Not only did he respond, he was the first emergency responder on scene as the house was located two houses down from his own.Upon receiving the alarm of the fire (the neighborhood children), he ran out to find the house spewing intense black smoke from the garage and front roof area. He help to escort the owner from the garage, where he was attempting to close the door and try to contain the flames, but the fire had already melted the door pieces. Soon after the first Kaufman police officers arrived on scene and started crowd control and relaying information to the inbound fire trucks. By the time the fire trucks rolled onto the street, flames had already made their way through the attic and where pouring out of the garage, front of the house and roof. Not only where the high winds a factor in the speed of the fire spreading throughout the house, it caused some concern that it might ignite the pastures behind the home and create a massive grass-fire, which was fortunate not to happen. The fire started around 4:45 PM and was finally put out around 6:30 PM. Due to design styles and open doors in the house, the winds created a vast wind tunnel that helped to push the flames rapidly through the attic area.  Because of the strong winds both Kaufman Fire Department and Scurry Fire Department where dispatched to the scene. The volunteer fire departments responded with a ladder truck and two engines. They put the ladder truck to work as soon as it arrived knocking the flames back down from above. While there were no injuries beyond a few small cuts and minor smoke inhalation of the home owner, an ETMC ambulance also responded to the scene.  Another concern besides the winds was the fact that the garage contained welding equipment, including gas cylinders, ammunition and other flammable/explosive chemicals. As the departments started to arrive and the fire fighters prepared to enter the structure, the sound of minor explosions could be hear from the ammunition being set off by the fire. This created a huge safety risk to both the fire fighters and by-standers.The were two dogs that lived in the house along with the family. By the time the fire departments arrived, one dog was outside of the home, while the other was still missing.  After the main portions of the fire were out, one of the fire fighters was able to locate the dog under the couch in the front room scared but safe, then was reunited with her owner by the fire marshal. The dogs are currently located with neighbors until the family has a place for them.Besides major fire damage throughout the house, there was also sustained smoke and water damage in areas not affect by the flames directly. Some items were retrieved from the house by fire fighters look for hot spots and neighbors after the fire was completely out. By the time night fall had come, some friends started to board of the garage and broken window to prevent entry to the property and salvaged items continued to be moved into a neighbors garage and friends vehicles to be taken for storage. 
Following standard procedures, the fire department as placed a call for assistance to the local Red Cross office located in Terrell. Once upon scene, which was after dark, EC Hodgdon - KE5IGO, escorted the Red Cross Disaster Assessment Team (DAT) member into the home and assisted in guiding through the structure. Once the Red Cross had made its assessment, EC Hodgdon escorted the DAT member to the owners of the home and provided other assistance as needed at that time. The home was occupied by a family of three, which included an 18 month old baby. Luckily, the wife and child were not home at the start of the fire. The wife was made aware of the fire and proceed to the house, where she was reunited with her husband. Thanks to neighbors, friends and family members, the family was able to locate a place to stay and had help in preparing for the next phase, including  more salvage of items, including clothing and moving forward with their lives. At the request of the family, EC Hodgdon and other neighbors have committed to keeping an eye on the location during this time, until the house has once again, been returned to a secure place to live.All Photos by Chris Hodgdon - KE5IGO representing Kaufman County ARES, Inc. (Emergency Coordinator) and Kaufman County CERT, Inc. (Chief) |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 September 2009 ) |
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