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Hotel Fire Attack Delayed By Broken Hydrants in Michigan

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Special Calls to Set Up Tanker Shuttle

Flint Journal

A MAJOR FIRE IN A FLINT, MICHIGAN, residence hotel Saturday night was especially vexing for the Flint Fire Department.  According to Battalion Chief John Babb, when the units arrived the fire already had a big start but many residents were still in the apartments.  Additionally, the weather had banked the heavy smoke down to street level and the FF's were unable to see each other's trucks or assess the fire conditions.

WJRT-TV

Of the four hydrants serving the hotel, three of them were inoperable (probably because of being frozen, Chief Babb said).  The working hydrant was dedicated to the aerial truck's master stream and a special call was put out to about seven other departments to set up a tanker relay from the next nearest hydrana a half-mile away.

By then the fire was into the common attic and was running the full building containing 24 units.

Flint Journal

The fire was reported at 10:30 Saturday night and kept all hands working until about 5 am Sunday morning.

WJRT-TV provided this video report from the scene:

 ABC 12 – WJRT – Flint, MI

Michigan Live has more HERE.

Hat tip:  Patrick N.

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Posted by on February 3, 2013 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

4 Infants Perish as Baby Sitter Bails Out

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FOUR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 5 perished Saturday night when a fire swept unchecked and unreported through a townhouse in Flint, Michigan.  One of the children lived there and the others were being watched by the child’s father, a 28-yr.-old man who was cooking something and fell asleep.

flint4 a flintjournal

Flint Journal / Hollyn Johnson

When he woke up, the fire was well advanced and he dove out a first-floor window to escape.  The children ages 4, 3, 2, and 1 were all upstairs and trapped in the fire.  At about that time, shortly after 11 pm, a neighbor saw the fire breaking out the windows and called the fire department.

Battalion Chief Andy Graves told the Flint Journal that the home was fully involved when the units arrived, but they made an attempt anyway, advancing a hose line up the stairs while knocking down the fire.  However, all the children were already dead by that time.  Chief Graves added that the prolonged response time of seven minutes was created by the closure of a nearby fire station.  He also said that none of the smoke detectors in the public housing unit were working and that contributed greatly to a delayed alarm.

The fire got up into the common attic and spread throughout the building, damaging the other five units in the structure.

The Associated Press has MORE.

Posted by on February 14, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Response times • Tagged: , ,