STATter 911

Since 1972 Dave Statter has covered the news. A good deal of Dave's reporting has focused on how fire and emergency medical services are delivered in and around Washington and Baltimore. Along the way, Dave was also a volunteer firefighter, an emergency dispatcher and a cardiac rescue technician.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Computer may have started Florida house fire. Two firefighters hurt from falling debris. Raw video of fire.

Photo by Christina Stuart, Florida Today

Watch raw video from house fire

From Joe Pagan, Florida Today:

While the exact cause of a fire that destroyed a home in Palm Bay Thursday remains “undetermined,” a Palm Bay police spokeswoman said this morning the mostly likely cause appears to be a desktop computer.

Yvonne Martinez said a computer in a rear bedroom of the house at 627 Dinner Street N.E. might have sparked the fire that engulfed a single-family house just after 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

The family of four was not home at the time, but three firefighters with Palm Bay Fire-Rescue were hospitalized after battling the blaze that gutted the home, Martinez said.

Firefighters attacked the blaze from inside, but were forced to evacuate when portions of the roof began to collapse, injuring two firefighters from falling debris.

One firefighter suffered minor burns to the back of his neck and the other was reportedly knocked unconscious. A third firefighter was being treated for possible heat-related stress. All were in stable condition, Martinez said.

The concrete block structure, valued at about $250,000 was destroyed, Palm Bay Fire-Rescue reported.

The fire was one of two on Thursday that left families homeless in Palm Bay. A fire earlier in the day destroyed a trailer at 3910 U.S. 1. Improper installation of underground wiring is believed to be the cause in that fire, authorities said.

# posted by Dave Statter @ 9:47 AM

Comments:

Guess we can go ahead and put another department's turnout coats on ebay...wow.

# posted by  Anonymous : November 21, 2008 11:12 AM

 

Why do they have fans in operation and no hose lines. Its no wonder they burnt it to the ground. Yet more proof that you might have to get hot and smokey to put out a fire. You might have to go in and look for the fire but you can save the house and not have the roof collapse on you.

# posted by  Anonymous : November 21, 2008 1:56 PM

 

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