Lengthy video from Thursday night’s house fire in Prospect Heights.
A gallery of photos is HERE.
This from Prospect Heights Deputy Chief Drew Smith (901) who worked as the interior chief at the fire:
Fire confined to second floor bedroom walk-in closet and office area. Closet was large enough to be its own room and office area was attached to walk-in closet. Multiple peaks of roof and vaulted and cathedral ceilings required extensive overhaul to check for fire spread. A total of five 1&3/4 hose lines were deployed:
Line 1 fire area inside closet
Line 2 fire area outside closet
Line 3 cover balance of second floor while ceiling opened to check for fire spread
Line 4 covered base of stair
Line 5 was used exterior
Terrain and a small stream to the west of this area made access to nearby Wheeling hydrants impractical. Long-distance LDH relay used. Normally, E9 would be attack pumper and E39 would start relay with a mutual-aid company extending the lay if necessary. Since AH E4 arrived first Squad 9 dropped its full bed then E39 finished the lay and pumped. We have a procedure for this, have used it many times, and it allowed us to obtain an ISO Class 3 even in our non-hydranted areas.
Due to the location of the house in relationship to the cul-de-sac (which has an island) and that the first engine and tankers could only get so far out of the way, Tower 12 could only access the roof at the A-B corner. Had there been much fire in the attic and roof areas we may have had a hard time with suppression.
This is the Box card (as actually filled).
Diagram of fire scene.
