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| North Georgia Firefighters Fight Vacant House Fire FORT OGLETHORPE, GA – Sunday, June 01, 2008 – At about 5:30 PM, Fort Oglethorpe Fire & Rescue and Catoosa County Fire Department were knocked out on a residential structure fire on Karen Drive. Fort Oglethorpe Engine 10, Engine 1, Truck 10, Air/Light 1, Catoosa Engine 3, Quint 3, Tanker 1 and Tanker 11 responded along with Fort Oglethorpe Battalion Chief Doug Flury (907). Engine 3 arrived to find a vacant two story brick building fully involved in fire. The house sat down a long gravel and dirt driveway which was extremely wet and muddy from hard rains earlier in the day making it difficult to access. Engine 3 made it down the driveway and firefighters pulled an inch and three quarter line to the front of the house and began a defensive operation. Chief Flury arrived and took command. Hydrants had just been installed on Karen Drive and one sat almost directly in front of the driveway. Unfortunately they were not yet working making this a tanker operation. Fort Oglethorpe Engine 10 pumped from the end of the driveway to Engine 3 and Tanker 1 supplied the water. Tanker 11 shuttled water from the closest hydrant to Tanker 1. All hands were placed into service in a defensive posture. Several exterior walls collapsed during the operation. The house was surrounded by dense overgrowth making it difficult to fight the fire. Due to the size of the structure, the limited access, and the large amount of fire it took almost three hours to extinguish the fire. There was no electric service to the house and it has been vacant for an extended period of time. The fire is suspicious in nature and is under investigation. Angel EMS assisted on the scene but there were no injuries as a result of the fire. |
