FIRE DESTROYS HOME SOUTH OF CORNELIUS (PHOTO)
News Release from Cornelius Fire Dept.
Posted on FlashAlert: May 15th, 2014 7:06 PM
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At 2pm this afternoon, Cornelius Firefighters were dispatched to a reported house fire in our rural fire protection district located in the 7400 block of SW Hergert Road. This home is located about 5 driving miles south of Cornelius. Once firefighters left the city limits, they were able to see a large column of smoke as well as flames coming from the house which was on a hill. When crews arrived approximately 10 minutes later, they found a 3,200 square foot house with heavy amounts of fire from t he back side of the house. It took firefighters 45 minutes to extinguish most of the flames, but took them multiple hours extinguishing hot spots. With the house so well involved with fire and the roof collapsed, it prevented firefighters from safety entering into the house to fight the flames. At time of press release fire crews are still on scene trying to put out hot spots.
With the rural location of this house, firefighters had to bring water to the scene using 3,000 gallon water tenders. The water tenders had to get water from a fire hydrant in Cornelius, which was 4 miles away. Firefighters also fatigued quickly due to the 80 degree weather at the time of the fire, luckily no firefighters suffered from heat exhaustion.
At the time of the fire, no one was home. Two dogs were found in an outside kennel and were safe, but due to heavy smoke blowing towards the dogs, firefighters moved them to safety inside the cab of a fire engine. The fire investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire, but believe it started on an outside deck. It is estimated that the fire caused around $325,000 in damage and the house is considered a total loss.
The house was not equipped with working home fire sprinklers, which could have prevented the fire from heavily damaging the house. Fire sprinklers are especially important in rural homes because it takes longer for firefighters to respond to incidents in remote areas of the fire district. The extra response time allows fire to grow, sometimes doubling every minute. This is why the Cornelius Fire Department highly suggests home fire sprinklers be installed in any new homes being built, whether it is in or outside the city limits.
Cornelius Fire Department was assisted on scene by Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, Gaston Fire District, Hillsboro Fire & Rescue, Banks Fire District and Washington County Fire District #2.
Fire Scene Information
6 Engines
5 Water Tenders
3 Chiefs
1 Support Unit
1 Investigator
35 Total Firefighters
# # #
With the rural location of this house, firefighters had to bring water to the scene using 3,000 gallon water tenders. The water tenders had to get water from a fire hydrant in Cornelius, which was 4 miles away. Firefighters also fatigued quickly due to the 80 degree weather at the time of the fire, luckily no firefighters suffered from heat exhaustion.
At the time of the fire, no one was home. Two dogs were found in an outside kennel and were safe, but due to heavy smoke blowing towards the dogs, firefighters moved them to safety inside the cab of a fire engine. The fire investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire, but believe it started on an outside deck. It is estimated that the fire caused around $325,000 in damage and the house is considered a total loss.
The house was not equipped with working home fire sprinklers, which could have prevented the fire from heavily damaging the house. Fire sprinklers are especially important in rural homes because it takes longer for firefighters to respond to incidents in remote areas of the fire district. The extra response time allows fire to grow, sometimes doubling every minute. This is why the Cornelius Fire Department highly suggests home fire sprinklers be installed in any new homes being built, whether it is in or outside the city limits.
Cornelius Fire Department was assisted on scene by Forest Grove Fire & Rescue, Gaston Fire District, Hillsboro Fire & Rescue, Banks Fire District and Washington County Fire District #2.
Fire Scene Information
6 Engines
5 Water Tenders
3 Chiefs
1 Support Unit
1 Investigator
35 Total Firefighters
# # #
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