Mother And 2 Children Narrowly Escape A North Long Beach Apartment Fire
By Jackawa Jackson | January 12, 2010
Just after 11:00 on the morning of January 12, 2010, Units from the Long Beach Fire Department responded to 5949 Cherry Avenue to a report of an apartment fire. Rescue 12 was first on scene and reported a first floor apartment well involved in fire. Engine 12 arrived seconds later and mounted and aggressive interior attack and began the search of the burning residence for victims possibly trapped by the flames. Flames from the first floor apartment shattered the glass in a second floor window and set fire to the eaves. Firefighters from Truck 11 uses chainsaws and axes to remove burning sections from the roof line in an attempt to prevent fire spread into the attic space.
A mother, her 17-year-old daughter and her 2-year-old son were home when the fire began. The mother said she noticed a brief power outage in her apartment. Shortly after, dense smoke began to pour from a bedroom and the teenage daughter yelled there was a fire. The three were able to make it to safety without injury.
Fire crews managed to confine the fire to the room of origin and controlled the blaze within 10 minutes. The American Red Cross was called in an effort to provide clothing as heat and smoke damage was wide spread throughout the apartment. 27 firefighters responded to this incident. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
Topics: Incidents, News | 27 Comments »
Fatality Apartment Fire
By Jackawa Jackson | January 8, 2010
11:30 pm January 7, 2010, units from the Long Beach Fire Department responded to a report of a structure fire at 1100 Elm Ave. Engine 3 arrived on scene within a matter of minutes and found a first floor apartment fully involved in fire with fire extending to an adjacent unit. The fire inside the involved apartment was so intense that flames reached the third floor landing. The elderly female resident of the involved apartment was found lying in the courtyard near a planter with severe burns to her body. Sadly she succumbed to her injuries and was deceased upon initial crews’ arrival. Witnesses reported she walked from the apartment under her own power prior to collapsing in the courtyard. Witnesses report seeing the victim minutes before the fire and by all accounts was awake and alert before discovery of the fire.
There were numerous oxygen tanks through out the apartment. It was reported that the resident was on home oxygen and was a smoker. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. Witnesses reported hearing at least one explosion from inside the apartment. At least one ruptured oxygen cylinder was recovered by fire crews after the fire and would account for the sound and the rapid spread of the fire. One large oxygen tank was removed by firefighters that fortunately had not ruptured. Had it done so, several firefighters may have been seriously injured or killed. Oxygen is not in and of it self flammable but will accelerate an already burning fire. It took fire crews 10 – 15 minutes to extinguish the blaze after mounting an aggressive attack on the seat of the fire. A thorough search was made of the apartment for additional victims. It was found that the victim’s dog also perished in the fire.
Damage is estimated at 75,000 –100,000 dollars. The Red Cross was called out to provide shelter to residents of the apartment next door and to provide grief counseling to family members who came to the scene. A total of 30 firefighters responded to this incident.
Topics: Incidents | 24 Comments »
Trapped Victim Under 405 Overpass
By Jackawa Jackson | January 7, 2010
Just before 10:00 on the morning of January 7, 2010, units from the Long Beach Fire Department responded to Redondo and the 405 freeway to a report of an injury traffic accident with a trapped victim. Engine 17 arrived on scene to find a white SUV, with severe damage to the drivers’ side, perched precariously on the embankment beneath the 405 on Redondo. The 54-year-old female driver was in severe distress and was entangled in the wreckage of her vehicle. Do to the positioning and complexity of the extrication, the Long Beach Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue team (USAR team) responded to the scene. Witnesses reported the collision between a 4 door Ford Taurus, which was pulling out of the driveway of a self-storage facility, and the SUV, which was driving on Redondo. The force of the impact sent the SUV careening through a chain link fence where it came to rest half way between the street and the top of the embankment. The USAR team used specialized shores to stabilize the vehicle, which was in danger or rolling back down the hill, possibly crushing rescue workers and further injuring the driver. Once stabilized, it took fire crews 5 to 10 minutes to remove the patient from the SUV, after which, she was transported to a local trauma center. The 63-year-old male driver of the Ford Taurus was not injured and was not transported. A total of 21 firefighters responded to this incident. There were no other injuries reported and no damage noted to the overpass. Redondo remained closed to all traffic for the duration of the incident.
Topics: Incidents | 25 Comments »
Broken Water Main Causes Sink Hole In North Long Beach
By Jackawa Jackson | January 4, 2010
Just after 5:00 pm on the evening of January 4, 2010, units from the Long Beach Fire Department responded to the intersection of 60thand Linden to a report of a water main break. Once on scene, Engine 11 crew members found roughly a 10’ by 10’ hole in the street caused by the breech of an underground water main. The torrent of water also appeared to have damaged an additional 30’ by 20’ section of the street that had not yet collapsed. Witnesses reported the ground opening up shortly after a van drove through the involved intersection. The Long Beach Water Department was called to assist and had the flow stopped within 15 minutes. Fortunately there were no injuries reported. It is unclear, at this time, how many residents were affected and the cause of the break is under investigation.
Topics: Incidents | 19 Comments »
2nd Alarm Fire…..Not So Happy New Year
By JJohnson | January 4, 2010
2010 started of with a 2nd alarm house fire for the Long Beach Fire Department. Multiple calls came in around noon on Saturday, January 2nd for reports of a house fire and 1 burn victim. Engine 2 was the first unit on scene and reported heavy fire blowing out of the downstairs of the 2-story, Victorian style home. A teenage boy, sleeping inside, noticed the fire and alerted his mother, who was upstairs, and sustained some burns to his arm and head. Rescue 1 transported the boy to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment. The mother was not injured. E2 began an aggressive fire attack, along with help from other companies.
Engine 3, Engine 1 and Truck 1 were right behind E2 and began helping with the fire attack. Because of the close proximity of the 3-story apartment complex to the North and the house the South, BC1 called for a “2nd Alarm Assignment.” This doubled the amount of resources from the first (3 Engines, 1 Truck, 1 Rescue, 1 BC) as well as made additional notifications to the command staff. The bulk of the fire was extinguished after about 20 minutes, however the flames did get into the attic space. Truck 1 and 7 both had their hands full as they had to cut a good portion of the roof away to extinguish the flames and let the hot air and gases escape.
The Red Cross was notified, due to the 9 people who lived there were all displaced. The good news is that all but 1 (the mother and her visiting son) was not at home at the time of the fire.
This cause of the fire is under investigation, however the occupants did still have their Christmas tree in the living, which was added fuel for the fire to spread. This is a reminder for all homeowners, that disposal of your dying or dead tree is extremely important.
Topics: Incidents, News | 27 Comments »
