Features

Fire Department Log By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday April 19, 2005

Smoker Ignites Blaze 

A backyard smoker inadvertently sparked a grass fire in the 1200 block of Ashby Ave. early Friday afternoon, and by the time city firefighters extinguished the flames a fence and a shed had been rendered hors de combat. 

Deputy Fire Chief David Orth said the firefighters arrived within minutes of the 12:41 p.m. call and had the flames out within minutes. 

The fire, which started in one yard, crossed a fence and did most of its damage at 1214 Ashby Ave., where the blaze did $300 in damage to the shed and fence and about $1,000 damage to property in the backyard and shed. 

 

Duplex Burns 

Flames that began in the second floor of a duplex at 1708 Russell St. resulted in a two-alarm fire that did more than $120,000 in damage and resulted in injuries to a dog. 

The call came in at 8:26 p.m., and flames were erupting out of the front and side windows when the first engine company arrived. The second alarm was sounded after firefighters saw the blaze spreading from the roof of the duplex onto the roof of a neighboring dwelling, Orth said. 

The fire consumed the furniture in the second-floor dwelling and damaged a deck and the neighbor’s roof by the time flames were extinguished at 8:50 p.m. 

In a search of the second floor, firefighters spotted a dog injured in the flames, and a police car dispatched the injured pet for emergency treatment. 

“The dog is expected to make a complete recovery,” Orth said.