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Marcus Marchesseault · March 16th, 2006, 06:23 PM

I was chatting with a neighbor yesterday when I noticed a column of smoke billowing up the valley originating about 250 yards/meters from my house. I thought for a second it might be a barbecue fanatic burning off the build-up in his/her grill, but the smoke was too consistent for anything small. I called 911 and they already knew about the fire. I called no more than 45 seconds after the smoke must have started rising. Being concerned about an average emergency response time of 9 minutes, I decided to see if I could help. I put down the mail and made sure I had my kevlar heat/cut resistant gloves in the truck and drove over there quickly. Our neighborhood is hilly and convoluted, so walking would be time-consuming. Just as I arrived, I heard the sirens so I knew it best to let the professionals provide assistance. Neighbors directed the trucks up the quickest streets to the house. Two pumper-trucks and a big ladder truck responded within about 5 minutes. I was impressed as the station is about 2.5 miles away and it takes me 5 minutes to just drive to that area, nevermind get dressed in heavy gear. The fire was out before flames erupted from the house. Only a single room was effected, unfortunately the couple's home business is run from their server and it was apparently melted. I hope they have surviving backups. The seeming source of the fire is from another computer. The good news is that nobody was seriously hurt, although the husband was taken in for monitoring as he got some smoke and is of an age where that kind of stress could cause cardiac problems.

A fair bit of excitement for a Wednesday afternoon, wouldn't you agree? It would make some great footage...if I had remembered my camera!!!!!!! Not until the fire department was setting up did I remember to go get my VX2000. I got some decent footage of the smoke and fire workers doing their job, but I could have got them arriving and rushing into the fire if I had brought my camera the first time!!!!!!

I would have had just enough time to set up for the first truck to drive around the corner.

Don't forget to Bring Your Camera!

Jimmy McKenzie · March 16th, 2006, 06:40 PM

The local tee vee station here wants you to call them first if you see a breaking disastrous news story because they would love to have their truck there first. They actually promote the idea! Seconds are everything when a fire strikes.

Thanks Marcus for calling 911 and not the news agency.

March 16th, 2006, 06:23 PM	#1
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	Bring Your Camera! I was chatting with a neighbor yesterday when I noticed a column of smoke billowing up the valley originating about 250 yards/meters from my house. I thought for a second it might be a barbecue fanatic burning off the build-up in his/her grill, but the smoke was too consistent for anything small. I called 911 and they already knew about the fire. I called no more than 45 seconds after the smoke must have started rising. Being concerned about an average emergency response time of 9 minutes, I decided to see if I could help. I put down the mail and made sure I had my kevlar heat/cut resistant gloves in the truck and drove over there quickly. Our neighborhood is hilly and convoluted, so walking would be time-consuming. Just as I arrived, I heard the sirens so I knew it best to let the professionals provide assistance. Neighbors directed the trucks up the quickest streets to the house. Two pumper-trucks and a big ladder truck responded within about 5 minutes. I was impressed as the station is about 2.5 miles away and it takes me 5 minutes to just drive to that area, nevermind get dressed in heavy gear. The fire was out before flames erupted from the house. Only a single room was effected, unfortunately the couple's home business is run from their server and it was apparently melted. I hope they have surviving backups. The seeming source of the fire is from another computer. The good news is that nobody was seriously hurt, although the husband was taken in for monitoring as he got some smoke and is of an age where that kind of stress could cause cardiac problems. A fair bit of excitement for a Wednesday afternoon, wouldn't you agree? It would make some great footage...if I had remembered my camera!!!!!!! Not until the fire department was setting up did I remember to go get my VX2000. I got some decent footage of the smoke and fire workers doing their job, but I could have got them arriving and rushing into the fire if I had brought my camera the first time!!!!!! I would have had just enough time to set up for the first truck to drive around the corner. Don't forget to Bring Your Camera!

March 16th, 2006, 06:40 PM	#2
Jimmy McKenzie Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Waterloo Ontario Posts: 721	...and.... The local tee vee station here wants you to call them first if you see a breaking disastrous news story because they would love to have their truck there first. They actually promote the idea! Seconds are everything when a fire strikes. Thanks Marcus for calling 911 and not the news agency.