Incident # 26-00914 - At 14:32, Tuesday 03-February, 9-1-1 received several reports of a large fire in the 1000 block of Treu Street. The callers advised the fire was endangering several homes. Engine 19 arrived to the rural dirt road to find a line of debris piles on fire with flames 50 feet in the air. The piles of land clearing debris were lined along the entire length of Treu Street. They were over 300 feet long and piled approx. 20 feet high. The piles were burning for half of a block. The radiant heat was endangering four mobile homes, several that were already off gassing. The piles were located just 20 feet from the mobile homes, so the heat was extreme. Engine 19 requested additional assistance, including several brush trucks and a tractor from the Forestry Commission. The single lane dirt road presented some problems for the larger Fire Apparatus who were going to also have to share the road with the Forestry Equipment. Firefighters attempted to knock down the flames in the vicinity of the mobile homes and deployed handlines to cool the mobile homes, thus protecting them from further damage. As additional Fire Units arrived. they were positioned near each of the mobile homes to ensure they did not catch fire. The cooling operation continued for several hours, but no homes were lost. The Forestry Commission ended up assigning three tractors and a Ranger to the incident. The tractors worked to clear a path through the long line of debris piles to cut off the travel of the fire. This was successful, until the fire jumped the line, but Firefighters were able to extinguish the newly advancing fire. Engine 26 used the deck gun several times to knock down the heavy fire so the Forestry Tractors could safely operate. The property owner eventually brought a track hoe to the location and assisted in tearing the debris piles apart so they could be extinguished. Treu Street is a non-hydranted area, so water supply was conducted with Tenders. Additional Tenders were assigned to the incident to supply the large amount of water needed to contain the fire.
Engine 19, Engine 26, Tender 1, Tender 19, Tender 26, Brush 27, Brush 36, Medic 19, Medic 26, Car 112 and Battalion 1 responded. Captain Robert Gregory served as incident Commander.
