Residents Escape Early Morning Fire In Southwest Harbor Home
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SOUTHWEST HARBOR—A home on Wesley Avenue was damaged by fire early Halloween morning. At approximately 3:11 a.m. the first fire tone went out.
Southwest Harbor Fire Chief Thomas Chisholm said he and another firefighter heard the page on their radios and said they’d be responding to the station.
“As soon as the dispatcher heard that we were responding, (they) updated us and told us that there were a couple people who were failing to evacuate,” Chief Chisholm said. “I think they were attempting to put the fire out themselves.”
There are reports that a juvenile on scene took a fire hydrant within the house and tried to extinguish the fire that had started on another occupant’s mattress. Four people were in the building during the fire. Another resident was using a bathtub to fill a receptacle with water and tried to get the fire doused that way. Those efforts were unsuccessful.
“They did holler for help and the other resident on the second floor called 9-1-1 pretty quickly,” Chief Chisholm said.
An off-duty firefighter, who also lives on Wesley Avenue, walked up the road and reported that the entire road was engulfed in smoke and a lot of it was pushing from the second floor and that the people were out of the building.
“We upgraded to what we call a second alarm,” Chief Chisholm said.
That second alarm means that fire crews across the island respond with certain equipment and Ellsworth responds with a rapid intervention crew. Tremont also came down to cover the Somesville fire station. Ambulances were also staged and ready.
“So, we made sure our island was still protected,” Chief Chisholm said.
Because of the location of the fire and because he was home, Chief Chisholm was able to wake, get to the fire department, put on his gear, and get a truck to the scene with water flowing in less than 12 minutes.
That time matters when it comes to the intensity and development of fires. During a fire’s incipient stage, it doubles in intensity every 30 seconds that there’s no water on it.
“It’s a timing thing,” Chief Chisholm said and putting your gear on in less than 2-3 minutes is huge. “We were fortunate that I was home.”
Upon his arrival, Chief Chisholm did a 360, which is a complete circle around the building. Firefighters Jason Gordius and Steven Pierce were also in that initial response.
“I could tell that the back right corner of the building had heavy fire inside of it,” Chief Chishom said.
The fire was licking up the panes of glass, which they could hear breaking.
Chief Chisholm was the only interior-qualified firefighter initially, the only one allowed to go inside to fight the fire, which he did.
“The motto is we risk a lot to save a lot,” he said. “I felt confident that I could go through the first floor safely.”
The first floor had no fire and no smoke and was clear, so he brought a line in and up through the top of the stairs. From this vantage point, he was able to spray water into the room that was on fire.
“At that point, the fire had popped its head out the window,” Chief Chisholm said.
Pretty quickly, Tremont Fire Department arrived along with Southwest Harbor’s second pumper. Tremont firefighters headed to the scene with nine members while additional staff stood by at the town’s Bass Harbor station.
In a divide and conquer approach, Tremont established exterior work fighting the fire. Southwest went inside, eventually with more than Chief Chisholm interior qualified. Bar Harbor and Mount Desert then arrived. Those department’s interior crews confirmed that everyone was out, which Chisholm did upon arrival as well. They also set up salvage measures to try to save some furniture and other items from water damage that often occurs when fighting structure fires.
Staff from Versant Power made sure that the electricity was turned off.
A dog and cat in the house were fine. The dog went into a car. A cat was held by a resident. There were four occupants in three different sets of rooms. No residents required medical assistance. The fire is not considered suspicious.
Southwest Harbor only has one full-time firefighter and one part-time employee who covers the station from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., six days a week, with Sundays being open and usually covered by a volunteer who is paid for that time.
After 5 p.m., protection all goes back to the members in town who are on call. Having one firefighter on duty 24-7 and a with skillset that ensures that they can get the truck there as well as be able to fight the fire would be ideal, the chief said.
“It takes a team effort,” Chisholm said, both within the department and then in the region. He radioed every step he took, as well as updates to give everyone who was still responding an understanding of what is going on.
If it had happened in a different place in town, it may have had a very different outcome, he said.
Personnel from Mount Desert Fire Department, Bar Harbor Fire Department, Southwest Harbor-Tremont Ambulance Service, Southwest Harbor Police Department, Versant Power, and Ellsworth Fire Department for RIT also responded.
This story will likely be updated.
This story has been updated to add two photos from the Southwest Harbor Police Department.
Photos: Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story
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