Burlington and West Burlington fire crews pushed through sub-zero temperatures Friday and Saturday to battle five separate blazes — at a manufacturing facility and four Burlington homes — one that caused the deaths of two dogs and two ducklings and injury to a resident and a Burlington firefighter, according to a release from Burlington Fire Marshal Mark Crooks.
No persons were killed in the fires that make up a fraction of the number of calls BFD received over the Christmas weekend.
In the meantime, freezing temperatures challenged local firefighters working to save lives and property while trying to avoid equipment failure, frostbite, hypothermia, and slips and falls.
“We had to be careful with the ice and make sure water was running through our hoses,” said BFD Captain Brandon Howard, who was on scene working this latest spate of fires.
Cold temperatures caused poor visibility through firefighters’ face masks, and a broken hydrant on Sunnyside Avenue during an active fire had to quickly be fixed, Howard said.
As the recent winter storm and its dangerous cold moved into the area, Howard said his fire and EMS departments responded to 52 calls from 9 a.m. Friday to 10 p.m. Saturday, runs that soon changed to frozen sprinkler heads that burst and caused flooding in several locations including Sunnyside Elementary School and Marshall’s at Westland Mall in West Burlington.
Calls continued to come in, adding up to a total of 99 calls over four days, according to Crooks. That amounts to 1/5 of the usual 500 calls per month.
“The common denominator is the winter temperatures,” said Crooks.
The roster of calls included carbon monoxide poisoning from frozen vents, and chest pains spurred by the cold.
Nearly back-to-back blazes left little time to thaw fire trucks that, according to Howard, had ice forming in the pumps and piping inside the vehicles.
The fire trucks were de-iced and working at full capacity as of Monday.
However, “We will have to have some pressure gauges fixed,” Howard said.
Community leands help
Meanwhile, locals rallied to help the weekend’s heroes.
Howard said as always, “the community was very kind. We received a number of food donations through (the weekend),” from individuals and businesses.
“We really appreciate the community support. The community always comes through for us when the chips are down and we have a lot of calls. Thank you to everybody who donated and checked in on us,” he said.
Auxiliary to Local 301 — Burlington Fire Department provided hot coffee and other provisions to firefighters working the fires.
Friday & Saturday calls
Crooks’ release lists the Friday and Saturday fire calls:
4:36 a.m. Friday
Crews were dispatched to 537 Summer Street for what has been declared an accidental fire. On arrival they observed a large amount of smoke bellowing from the home’s chimney.
Crooks said embers from an active fireplace fire had dropped below into a catch basin that already was full, and the resulting blaze spread to the basement area directly below. Firefighters extinguished the fire, contained damages to that spot and cleared the scene at 6:17 a.m.
1:16 p.m. Friday
Firefighters at 1:22 p.m. quickly put out a small fire in the insulation at the top side of the paint booth at Flint Cliffs Manufacturing, 1600 Bluff Road. Damages were confined to the insulation, and the scene was cleared at 2:19 p.m. The fire is considered accidental.
6:37 a.m. Saturday
Firefighters with Burlington Police, Superior Ambulance, Burlington Waterworks and Alliant Energy responded to a blaze at 1717 Sunnyside Ave., that took the lives of four pets, caused injury to the home’s occupant when she had to jump out of a second-story window, and extensively damaged the single-family structure.
On arrival, crews saw heavy smoke and flames at the rear windows, and a box alarm called in off-duty Burlington firefighters and put Mediapolis and Danville departments on standby.
Firefighters treated the occupant, later transferred by Superior Ambulance crews to Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in West Burlington, for minor injuries at the scene.
An injured Burlington firefighter was treated and released at the hospital.
Officials cleared the scene at 10:25 a.m.
Crooks said the fire was caused by combustibles too close to a heat lamp being used to warm the pets. The home is insured.
7 a.m. Saturday
Danville and Mediapolis firefighters joined in responding to a single-family home at 1003 S. Ninth Street where crews brought a second-floor bedroom fire under control in about 40 minutes.
The fire was caused by improperly discarded smoking material, according to the release.
The house is insured and occupied by owner Linda Miller. Damage estimates are being assessed.
Burlington Police and Alliant Energy assisted on scene.
10:23 a.m. Saturday
No one was home at 2203 Melvin Ave., when firefighters responded at 10:26 a.m. to a fire that caused extensive damage to the insured, single-family home owned and occupied by Alan and Jennifer Stevenson.
Crews brought the fire under control by 11:06 a.m. and cleared the scene at 11:57 a.m.
The fire’s cause is being investigated, and is not considered suspicious. No one was injured.
Burlington Police, Burlington Waterworks, and Alliant Energy assisted at the scene.
One of the blazes, according to Crooks, was caused when items stored on a stovetop caught fire.
According to Crooks, another common denominator, besides the weather, is that none of the homes that caught fire had working smoke detectors.
“Smoke detectors are very important. While they won’t prevent fires they will give you time to get out of your house,” explained Howard.
“People have two minutes to get out of their house once the fire starts. And modern fires burn faster and hotter and produce more smoke than in the past,” he said “This is due to the stuff we put in our houses — synthetic materials like what we build our couches out of, and our computers and electronics with a plastic or synthetic base that has a nastier, deadlier smoke.”
BFD operates a Smoke Detector Home Installation program, a free service that provides both the detectors and installation by firefighters for free.
To arrange an installation, call the fire department’s non-emergency number at (319) 753-8390.
Howard has seen first-hand the smoke detector program’s importance.
Local firefighters have responded to fires at homes “where we had installed smoke detectors and the people got out,” said Howard.
Burlington Fire Department’s Keep the Wreath Red fire safety awareness initiative through New Year’s Day at its Central Fire Station will require the change of five more red bulbs to white on its outdoor wreath, indicating eight fires in the city since it started on Nov. 19.
Burlington Waterworks is installing new fire hydrants, Howard said, a move that will help prevent failures that are more likely to happen when using the city’s older hydrants.
Fire hydrants typically need to be replaced every 50 years.