Firefighter Injured in House Fire in Derwood
A firefighter fell through a hole in the floor while trying to put out a fire.
A firefighter was injured while working to put out a fire in a ranch-style home in the 6000 block of Muncaster Mill Road Saturday morning, said Assistant Chief Scott Graham of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.
Traffic cameras first alerted dispatchers to the fire—when they noticed smoke coming from the Derwood home. The county fire service was called at around 5:30 a.m.
When units arrived on the scene, they found a basement fire that had burned through the first floor, creating a hole. While extinguishing the fire, a firefighter fell through the floor and was extricated from the basement by firefighters working in the basement, according to Graham.
The firefighter has minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
The fire was brought under control in about 20 minutes. The origin and cause of is under investigation.
Jim Coyle
10:34 am on Sunday, May 6, 2012
Why do we send FF's into homes when it is not required by circumstances? If no one is in the house, assume they have insurance and put the fire out from the outside. We don't need to put FF's at risk.
Doug Tallman
10:41 am on Sunday, May 6, 2012
How would a firefighter know that no one's at home unless they went inside to check?
Jeff Hawkins
7:51 am on Monday, May 7, 2012
Doug:
Good question......
Jim Coyle
9:59 am on Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Doug,
That is the risk they have to take. Do we want to put out FF's at risk. This past year 7 PG County FF's were injuried in an empty warehouse fire. They were scarred for life. Unless they know someone is trapped in the fire, let's keep them safe and let the insurance company deal with the property loss.
Sean R. Sedam
3:11 pm on Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Assistant Chief Scott Graham addressed the decision to enter the home in this update:
http://patch.com/A-thv5