This was no camp fire!

Rob P,
Nov 2, 2018
2 min read

Mid afternoon on Friday the switchboard at Chelmsford's 911 center began to light and the calls started pouring in for a reported structure fire at the end of Clinton Ave.

The dispatcher sounded the tone and said the assignment. Crews began signing on the air responding. As they traveled towards the scene they could see the loom of thick, black heavy smoke through the low clouds and heavy rain and they know!

As they crested a small hill on Clinton Ave. the 1st arriving unit where faced with a massive blaze coming from behind the home at the end of the road.

The Senior Officer began barking out orders to the approaching units to set up a feeder, "Engine 3 I need you to reverse lay out to the top of Lancaster Ave. and relay pump from the Hydrant!", "Engine4 there is a hydrant at Lancaster and Bowl!"

But this well oiled machine would be hampered by low pressure coming from the plug. "Command to the next in unit lay in from Stedman!" Some 1,584 feet away. Knowing the next in could be coming from a distance, crews continued to work the plug to keep water flowing.

The senior officer knew he had his hand full here, with a barn like structure fully involved upon arrival just feet from the residential structure, he called for the second alarm.

Units continued to blaze their way across town sirens echoing through the gloomy air. With the streets quickly filling up with LDH feeders the drivers had carefully navigate their way around hoses to get as close to the scene as they could get.

In full surround and drown mod, companies keep a close eye on the main structure. Using TIC's they keep sweeping the house. Eventually this turned out to be what saved the house, because unit did find extension and where able to quickly get a line on it and knock it down.

Before it the last pike pole was stuck in the rack and the last hose was packed the fire went to 2 alarms bring to the scene companies from Billerica, Tewksbury, Lowell (Ladder & Engine), Westford, Tyngsborough, Nashua to name a few. Additional resources from Trinity ambulance and Lowell General Medics where on scene providing EMS and Rehab.

Crews spent the better part of 6 hours over hauling the burnt out shell of the barn and house, before finally packing