T here are weather events that increase the probability of a fire starting and rapidly getting out of control. A week or so ago, we had one of those events. A strong wind came through at night, and three working incidents took place during that time. A house, a detached garage, a large out building, and a few acres of woodlands, in three different locations in the county, caused the evacuation of some and firefighters to be busy through the night. Wind-driven fires, given the right conditions, have the potential for rapid fire spread once they get started. A wind-induced fire is that is being fed a key component to its existence, one that will burn hotter and will travel throughout a building, as well as spread to other buildings.
The wind is usually a large contributing factor, and I guess that we could say that the wind caused the fire. I want to unpack this a bit. One common occurrence in high winds is the downing of live power lines, whether they come down on their own or are struck by trees and tree limbs. A fire will occur due to the extreme heat in wet or dry conditions, but when it is dry, the fire will spread rapidly. Downed power lines that remain live are very dangerous to everyone in the vicinity and must be dealt with by Dominion or whatever power company operates in your area.
Another thing that happens in wind is that any fire that was burning prior to a wind event and was not completely extinguished has the potential of being rekindled. Whether it is a fire pit or ashes that were dumped from a wood stove or fireplace, wind can cause these to start an out of control fire. It is imperative that you douse all legal fires and properly dispose of discarded ashes. In most of Chesterfield County, it is illegal to burn leaves, and it is illegal to burn trash everywhere in the county. Even if you happen to be in a part of the county that allows burning, a 4 p.m. Burning Law is in effect statewide. To burn brush for the purpose of clearing land in the county, you are required to obtain a burn permit from the Fire Marshal’s office.
Once a fire is started in these high wind conditions, it is vital that 9-1-1 is called immediately and that you do everything possible to get you and your family out of harm’s way. One person was burned in one of the three mentioned fires. It is my understanding that the occupant was trying to remove items from a burning building. Stuff can be replaced and even if it cannot, it is not worth getting hurt or killed.
Firefighters have a very difficult fire fight in high winds. There have been wind-driven fires that have taken the lives of firefighters in the past. Firefighters risk their lives attempting to save the lives of others. Fires do not act like “normal” fires, when pushed by high winds. Fires move from room to room much faster and hotter than expected. Controlled and coordinated ventilation is a tactic deployed by firefighters all of the time. It is when there is no control over the ventilation (in other words, high wind) that a fire has the potential of trapping, injuring, and even killing firefighters. As I have said before, the best news that arriving firefighters can hear is that everyone is out of the building and accounted for. Firefighters will do a primary and secondary search as they are working, but being able to give a verbal all clear at the beginning causes a different mindset. The rescue mode continues to be the most dangerous mode under which firefighters operate.
Weather events contribute to fires starting and sometimes growing much faster than usual. We must each do our part to prevent out-of-control fires from getting started, especially in these extreme conditions. It is just like a person who shoots a gun; the shooter is responsible for where that bullet goes after it leaves that gun. Freak things happen, and some things cannot be prevented, but we, far too often, attribute something to an accidental cause that could have been prevented. I think that those should be a reporting category that were accidental in nature but preventable. This is many times said, but not intentionally articulated. Be careful!
