Oct 7, 2010 Leak causes Rover fire

2010-10-07 / Front Page

Washington firefighters extinguish a stubborn fire under the hood of a Range Rover parked at a home on Spring Street Friday afternoon. Chris Morgan, owner of the vehicle, said that a power steering hose apparently split, spraying fluid on a hot exhaust manifold and catching fire. Firefighters put the fire out before it spread to the home just 10 feet away, Fire Chief Alan Poss said. Morgan said that it was his son’s vehicle and was covered only by liability insurance.

Firefighters get hands-on training in controlled burns

By KIP BURKE news editor

New firefighters got an opportunity to experience a burning building under controlled conditions during last week’s training exercise.Firefighters from all over Wilkes County and beyond got an opportunity for realistic training recently as Washington Fire Department trainers used a donated house to burn under controlled conditions.
More than 50 firefighters from every volunteer fire department in the county, and several firefighters from Oglethorpe County, gathered on Rusher Street in Washington last Tuesday to train on a house that had been purchased by the city as part of the Southwest Washington Redevelopment Plan. Main Street Manager David Jenkins said that the redevelopment plan called for the house to be demolished, but allowing the firefighters to conduct a training burn provided one final good use for the building.
Under the direction of senior Washington Fire Department officers, fires were lit using wooden pallets and kerosene in the home’s rear room. Firefighters, divided into three-person hose teams, practiced entering the burning building, knocking down the flames, then safely leaving the building.
As one hose team battles flames inside the house, training officer Lt. Greg Scott briefs the next hose team preparing to go in.“We have several new firefighters in training now, and this allowed them to experience the flash-over conditions they would find in a burning building for the first time, but in a safer environment,” said Chief Alan Poss.
During last week’s drill, the hose teams made repeated entries into the burning rooms to put down the flames to a certain point, then WFD trainers would stoke the flames back to life for the next round. After more than two hours of practice that saw each hose team make repeated tactical entries to the burning house, trainers extinguished the flames, saving the structure for another drill.
“We saw that the house was still in good shape, structurally,” Poss said, “so we got the okay from the city to come back and drill again here and provide more training for our firefighters.”
The Rusher Street house will be the scene of a second drill next Monday night, training officer Lt. Greg Scott said. The drill will provide more hands-on experience for firefighters, then be allowed to burn down. Firefighters will stand by to ensure that the flames do not spread and that the remains of the fire are properly overhauled.
The aim of this and other fire training is not only to save lives and property, but to eventually improve the ISO insurance rating for the whole county, Poss said. In 2006, Washington’s in-town fire protection rating was raised from a Class 4 to a Class 3, putting it in a class equal with most Atlanta suburbs and far better than most other small cities.

Firefighters stop Water Street fire, explosion,Mar 2009

Washington firefighters seek out hot spots in a garage and shed on Water Street at Grove Street Tuesday afternoon after a grass fire got inside the garage, burning contents and setting of an explosion heard blocks away. Washington Fire Chief Alan Poss said that Lawrence Edwards, 80, said he was smoking at the rear of the garage, tripped and dropped the cigarette into the grass, starting a fire that spread into the shed. Firefighters were on the scene within three minutes of the call, Poss said, and knocked the flames down quickly, but overhaul of the tin-roofed building took another hour.

Bank Building, 1936

I remember that a few months after the Country Club  fire we were still at the hotel , 1936, when there was a fire at the Bank Building across Jefferson Street. The bank was out of business, but on the top two floors were offices of lawyers, the County School Superintendent, and other government agencies. I remember being awakened by Louie Amason's cries of "Fi-yah!". The fire was limited to the top floor with water and smoke damage throughout and I remember Rufus Rider's shouts while working with the remains the next morning.

Boline, 1935

When I was eleven my family spent several months in Hotel Johnson with Mother and Daddy as the operators. The year before that I remember that my Uncle Hillyer's family had done the same thing.  I also remember that there was a fire call in late afternoon about Christmas at the old Country Club on Spring Street. The Boline family of Enzey, Gazena, and Olive lived there and operated the swimming pool behind the house. Daddy went to the fire as a fireman, and Mother went out there as Gazena's close friend. I remember being on the sidewalk at the hotel/store during the fire, which completely destroyed the house. I understood then that the fire started spontaneously from cleaning supplies in  a closet and that there was a problem getting enough water on  the fire because the swimming pool had been drained for cleaning.  Mother helped the Bolines move  their belongings to the corner room next to us at the hotel, where they lived while rebuilding a smaller house (now Lonnie Ray's) on the site of the Country Club.

G. Y. Lowe, 1929

When I was five years old, I lived with my parents and baby brother, Jimsie, on Spring Street, and Daddy was a volunteer fireman. On some night in October 1929 the fire whistle (siren) blew and Daddy or Mother found out from Central that G.Y. Lowe Hardware was on  fire. We had only one car so I suppose that Daddy drove it to the fire station, leaving Mother with me and Jimsie. I understand that it was a pretty big fire and that Mother became afraid to stay at home. All I remember is that she somehow took us over to her friend "Wood's" (Mrs. O. S. Wood) house on Jefferson Street. I remember very well standing in the street in my bathrobe looking at the fire. The building was gutted and restored to become, eventually, Howard Hardware, then, now, Poss Ace Hardware. I understand, also, that my grandfather, W. T. Johnson, had been in the hardware business at about the same place until he moved "out of town" into the next block and built his own building in 1898.

Feb 11 & 16, 2010 - Sheppeard, Goldman, Randall

By KIP BURKE news editor

The entire carport and utility room of this McLendon Drive home were damaged.Thursday, February 11, saw the Washington Fire Department responding to an unusual two separate residence fires in the same day.
Just after 1 p.m. Thursday, firefighters were called to 101 McLendon Drive, the first house off Whitehall Street. The home, owned by Emma Sheppeard and rented by Maerene Grant and family, suffered substantial damage when a clothes drier caught fire.
“The drier in the utility room at the back of the carport caught fire,” said Fire Chief Alan Poss, “and the residents smelled smoke inside and reported the fire.” By the time firefighters arrived some three minutes later, flames were rolling out of the front of the carport. Wind drove the flames into the roof structure of the frame home and caused more damage than it should have, he said. “It caused a considerable amount of damage.”
Friday’s first fire started in the clothes dryer of this McLendon Avenue home and spread in high winds.Using two attack lines, firefighters, including two off-duty men, attacked the fire and brought it under control. The house was about a 30 percent loss, Poss estimated.
The second fire call came at nearly midnight. A structure fire was reported on Parkway Drive in the Jackson Heights subdivision. It was spotted by neighbor Edward Compton. “I saw the fire from my porch and had a neighbor call 911, and I ran up to see if anyone was home,” he said. “The fire was heavy in the kitchen and I tried to put it out with a garden hose until the firemen got here.”
The home, owned by Lacy Goldman and rented to Ernest Edward Willis, 57, had flames coming out of the roof by the time firefighters arrived. Neighbors said they thought the resident was inside, Poss said, so “the captain on duty entered the burning home and did a primary search of the room he slept in, but couldn’t find him.”
Washington firefighters search for a man reported to be in this burning Jackson Heights home but found him in the back seat of the car at right.As the fire fighters attacked the fire and prepared to conduct another search inside, one volunteer noticed a man asleep in the back seat of the car sitting in the driveway of the burning home. A deputy opened the locked car and rescue personnel found Willis nearly naked in the cold and barely conscious.
He was transported to Wills Memorial Hospital for examination. Poss said that the damage to the home approached 70 percent.
Tuesday evening saw yet a third residential house fire. Firefighters were called to the home of Roger Randall in the 3800 block of Metasville Road just after 5 p.m. Tuesday. Fire units from the Metasville Volunteer Fire Department, Washington Fire Department, and Tignall Volunteer Fire Department all helped fight a stubborn blaze in an old structure. A pump-and-dump operation was set up to bring water to the fire, and personnel were called in from all over the county to provide manpower.