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huntingbuddy
01-15-2007, 11:42 PM
Dont ever let this happen to you buddy.

Firefighters in Draper spent Monday going through what's left of their own fire station. The station caught fire early Sunday morning.

The loss from the fire exceeds a million dollars.


The fire started in the garage area and actual damage to the fire station is said to be limited-- the dorm area where the firefighters live was not damaged. But for now, station 114 is out of commission.

It's the last place firefighters thought they'd be mopping up from a blaze-- at their own fire station on South Mountain.

Battalion Chief Brent Speirs, Unified Fire Authority: "It's a cold reality. I've never had anything like this happen in my career in the fire service. But nobody is immuned from it."

The fire broke out about 2:00 in the morning on Sunday. The firefighters had just returned from a call and were in their living quarters, when two Draper police officers saw the smoke and came to get them out.

Battalion Chief Brent Speirs, Unified Fire Authority: "They heard some pounding about 45 minutes after they got back from their medical call and it was basically Draper p.d."


The fire department has smoke detectors in the living area, but not in the garage, where the fire started. Firefighters got out their engines, but bomb squad equipment, specifically two bomb robots in the station, could not be saved.

Battalion Chief Brent Speirs, Unified Fire Authority: "The damage is anywhere from 1.3- to 1.5-million dollars, and that's due to contents and structure."

Insurance adjusters and a structural engineer are trying to determine what it will take to repair the damage. Firefighters hope within a few days they can return while their station is repaired.

For now, firefighters from station 114 are based out of the fire station on 123rd South.

Battalion Chief Brent Speirs, Unified Fire Authority: "Our responses are going to be a little bit longer because of that. But for right now, until we can get in, it's the best we can do."

Exactly what caused the fire is still being investigated, but so far it is not suspicious and it's believed to be from either an electrical problem or from one of the fire trucks.

Fire officials expect to know more in a couple of days.

Here is the link in case you want to look at the pictures.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=807026

IowaMigr8tor
01-16-2007, 12:05 AM
Man that sucks, I can't imagine my station catching fire. Our stations for the most part are Type II construction(Noncombustible or Limited Combustible) so the threat of fire is small, but still there. It could happen to any of us at anytime. They are lucky to have retrieved the equipment that they were able to. It is amazing how fast things can add up. I know that we have two new American LaFrance engines coming in a matter of a couple of months and they are pushing over $450,000 a pop. Now imagine if the trucks that were sitting in there were lost, how much it would take to replace them is out of control. I hope that the investigation is successful in finding the origin and cause of fire. It is a sad loss but they will rebuild and it will be better than it was before.

IowaMigr8tor
01-16-2007, 12:30 AM
I took a look at the video from what I can tell from the exterior of the structure it was a Type III (Ordinary) or Type IV (Heavy timber). I lean more towards Type III just because you rarely see type IV construction in modern buildings and that structure looks fairly new. The exterior accents may indicate type IV but in truth be Type III. My thoughts are with those firefighters in Utah.

huntingbuddy
01-16-2007, 12:43 AM
man it sure sounds like you know your stuff. It is a fairly new building about a year old if I am remebering right. My guess is it has something to do with the electrical.

IowaMigr8tor
01-16-2007, 01:05 AM
Yeah I hope they can figure out what started the fire. If it was electrical they may be able to go back to the electrician who worked on the building and get something out of it. I have no clue on sprinkler ordinances out in Utah but all of our newer commercial structures over so many square feet have to be sprinklered. I know that our stations are sprinklered to avoid accidents like that.
Like I said its just too bad that it had to happen but they will learn something from this experience, for the better. We all have had these instances, no matter what dept. you are on they have had a policy changing event that was result or tragedy or loss. Its like when you were a kid, if you touched the hot stove and got burned, you learned quick not to touch the stove. I wish them luck.