Westarea Fire Department responded to a commercial fire at 401 Tire and Auto. When the first truck arrived on scene the building was fully involved. It took 11 Departments throughout Harnett and Cumberland County, about 65-75 personnel, and 29 Engines, Pumpers, and Tankers to get the fire under control and eventually extinguished. The building was a loss, but we can report that there was no loss of life or even an injury on the fire ground! It took over 6 hours and approximately 75k water to extinguish.
LOL…so someone asked me what we did with so many trucks, it’s not like all of them could fight the fire……
So let me try to explain real quick…..there was one hydrant available, but we had multiple hand lines, as well as a ladder truck working to put the fire out. In order for the firefighters to be safe, we could not put all the ladder truck and the engine pumping the handlines on the same water resource, or the ladder truck would have taken all the water pressure. So in order for the ladder truck to be used, we needed to shuttle water from a hydrant on a different water main; so we used one that was over 1.5 miles (1 way) from the fire scene. SO the majority of vehicles were used to shuttle water for the ladder truck.
Plus the vehicles brought manpower that was used to fight the fire. Remember, a FF’s gear weighs around 60-65 pounds, and that is not including the hose pressure they are fighting against, as well as the heat. A FF needs to periodically rest and recuperate to continue to be effective.
I hope that answers the questions!!