On the night of April 6th, firefighters in Charles County were kept busy as they responded to two separate house fires. Tanker 74 was initially dispatched to the quarters of LaPlata Station 1 to assist with a two-alarm house fire on the west side of Charles County. However, while en route, they were redirected to Tenth District Fire Station 8 to assist with another house fire on Goode Road in Hughesville.
Upon arrival at the scene of the second fire, first responders found a two-story single-family home with smoke showing. Tanker 74 assisted with water supply while the crew deployed an attack line to side A. The crew then deployed to the 1st floor and assisted with fire attack and opening up. Unfortunately, during the incident, several members fell through a hole and into the basement area, causing a Mayday to be declared.
However, the Mayday was quickly resolved, and EMS evaluated several firefighters. Tanker 74 remained on the scene for an hour before being released back to Hollywood. Several firefighters reported minor injuries during this incident, but no Hollywood members were injured.
Just before 11:30 pm, Rescue Squad 2 was alerted to Goode Road and Prince Frederick Road for another house on fire. Upon arrival, the crew found Chief 829 on the scene with fire showing from a single-family home. Engine 1002, Squad 1002, and Anne Arundel Tanker 9 all arrived to find a 2-story single-family home with fire showing.
Squad 2 arrived next and assisted the first arriving units with fire extinguishment, searches, and opening up. However, a short time into the incident, two separate failures of structural members occurred. Squad 2’s officer and a member from another department fell through the flooring of the home and were suspended by the floor joists. Thankfully, on-scene members quickly assisted these members to safety. At the same time, the stairwell to the basement catastrophically failed, and Squad 2’s Driver and a member from another department fell into the basement. Both members were rescued quickly by crews on the first floor when they lowered an attic ladder down into the basement for the members to climb up.
One member of Squad 2 was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Chief 2 operated on the incident on Division 1 for the incident. Crews had the bulk of the fire knocked down in 10 minutes and worked for about 2 hours chasing extension in the walls.
Tanker 2 was operating on a house fire in Marbury when this structure fire went out and was diverted to the house fire in Hughesville. Tanker 2 was then placed in service and handled a transfer to Hughesville during the incident.
The cause of the fires is currently unknown, and investigations are underway. We would like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude and appreciation to the brave firefighters who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. Their courage and dedication to their communities are an inspiration to us all.