05/21/2005 - Structure Fire - Bakers Ridge Rd.

     Companies 20, 14 and 17 were dispatched to a reported structure fire at 1213 Bakers Ridge Rd at 15:02.  Three minutes after the initial alarm, 20-4 (Huber) marked on scene and reported a working structure fire.  Because of rapidly deteriorating fire conditions, an additional alarm was requested, dispatching units from companies 23 and 12.  20-1 (Jason Quinn) arrived on scene and assumed incident command at 15:13 as 202 arrived. At 15:19 the first in engine (E-173) arrived, and personnel from Star City and Granville began a simultaneous aggressive interior attack and search and rescue operation.  At the time of the fire the home was unoccupied except for the homeowner's dog and cat, which were both rescued from the home.  The fire was contained to the dining room, the room of origin, however smoke damage was very extensive through the home.  The source of ignition was determined to be an illuminated china hutch in the dining room; evidence collected from the scene revealed a short in the cabinet's electrical cord started the fire.  Units from 20 and 17 remained on scene for salvage and overhaul and cleared the scene at 17:16.

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Courtesy of the Dominion Post	Courtesy of the Dominion Post

Defective extension cord equals $40,000 in damages to home
House sustains significant smoke damage from fire
BY ERIC SLAGLE The Dominion Post

   A faulty extension cord is to blame for a dining-room fire that caused an estimated $40,000 in damages to a home at 1213 Bakers Ridge Road on Saturday.
   It only took firefighters about seven minutes to contain the blaze in the home of Dick and Cindy Parsons, but in that time the house sustained significant smoke damage. Firefighters also had to cut a large hole in the rear left side of the structure to put out the blaze, which started at 3 p.m.
   A Lowe’s delivery van driver spotted the blaze and called for help, said Star City Volunteer Fire Department Captain John Huber. Huber said that when he and other firefighters arrived on the scene, the siding on the house near the dining room was peeling off and smoke was coming out of the upstairs windows.
   The Parsons were not home, so a neighbor let firefighters in through the garage. Huber said they had no trouble locating the fire in the dining room once they were inside.
   Dick Parsons, who’d been out golfing when he got a call from a neighbor that his house was on fire, surveyed the damage to the home from his lawn. A dozen or so neighbors stood by him as he called his wife — who was out of town — on a cell phone, to tell her about the fire.
   The Parsons own a dog and cat, both of which got out of the house safely.
   Parsons, who has insurance for the home, said he appreciated the firefighters’ efficiency.
   “Thank goodness they are as good as they are,” he said. “I appreciate what they were able to do.”

**Article Above Courtesy of the Dominion Post**