Firefighters respond to multiple significant incidents

On Wednesday, June 12th, at 1:30pm, the Warren County Department of Fire and Rescue Services were dispatched to the 400 block of W. 15th Street, in Front Royal, for a reported residential structure fire.

400 block of W. 15th Street. Photo courtesy of WCFR.

Fire, rescue and law enforcement units quickly arrived on the scene and reported a single family dwelling with significant fire conditions throughout the first floor, basement and roof system of the home, with radiant heat from the fire starting to ignite a nearby vehicle and a neighboring home. Firefighters were able to quickly protect the exposures and begin fire suppression efforts. Based on the volume of fire and available resources on the incident scene, a second alarm was requested at 1:45pm and all operations were moved to an exterior-defensive operation. The fire incident was marked under control at 2:14pm with substantial structural collapse occurring to the roof system and first floor of the home. Firefighters remained on the scene throughout the afternoon.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Warren County Fire Marshal’s Office. Investigators worked through the evening processing the scene and have eliminated any suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident. The fire is believed to have started on the exterior of the home and quickly spread into the basement and roof system of the structure. The fire caused an estimated $400,000.00 in property and content damaged. Both occupants of the home have been displaced as a result of the fire and have received assistance from the American Red Cross. The occupants were not home at the time of the fire but one occupant was treated and released on the scene after entering the burning home to rescue pets before the fire departments arrival. A firefighter was also treated for minor injury on the scene.

During this significant fire incident, WCFR received multiple calls for service to include several emergency medical responses, an additional reported residential structure fire and a reported motor vehicle/motorcycle crash with significant injuries. The additional fire was quickly contained to the electrical system of the home and the motorcycle crash resulted in a patient with significant injuries being airlifted to a regional trauma center.

Fire Chief Richard E. Mabie stated that “our local response system was stretched thin, but due to the collaborative partnerships with our neighboring response agencies we were able to successfully handle all emergencies in a timely fashion.” These simultaneous incidents demonstrated the constraints to our response system and reinforces the need to continually look for volunteers. Anyone interested in volunteering for your local fire and EMS station should visit www.warrencountyfire.com.

Units on the 15th Street Fire:

• Engine 1
• Rescue Engine 5
• Truck 10
• Engine 9
• Ambulance 3
• Ambulance 4
• Middletown Engine/Chief 12
• Strasburg Pumper 51
• Chief 100