Photo By R.J. Oriez | Firefighter Dorian Poling, 788th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department, hoses down...... read more read more
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WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Fire Department responded to a fire in Building 18 on Area B, the evening of July 18.
Building 18, a large complex bordered by 5th, 6th and C streets, is part of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory campus. Fire Capt. James Hammond, Fire Station 3, said his firefighters encountered smoke in the hallway of 18-B when they arrived, and it got heavier when they got to the scene of the fire.
“We started ventilating out the doors,” Hammond said. “Couldn’t see a whole lot when we got there though.”
According to Olivia Beal, AFRL Aerospace Systems Directorate Integration and Operations Division chief, the fire was contained to a space that was undergoing construction demolition.
“They were removing test equipment that had been in that building, that had been used for previous research efforts and upgrading the facility,” Beal said. “So, the critical research items, and everything like that, had already been removed from the room, and the last little bit was some construction demo.”
Part of what was being demolished was walls in a room that consisted of 4X6 timbers sandwiched between cement blocks and half-inch thick steel plates. The construction added to the firefighters’ challenge.
Four hours after they first attacked the flames, the fire was declared out and the firefighters returned to their stations.
“We thought we had the fire out,” said Jeffrey Kitzmiller, 788th Civil Engineer Fire Department chief. “Given the situation with the heavy timber sandwiched between metal, the fire was not out.”
Kitzmiller said a defender with the 88th Security Forces Squadron discovered smoke while on patrol the next morning at 6:15.
“Everything in this area, in this room, last night was a good knockdown,” Hammond, said the morning of July 19. “Everything was good. We had the heat sources drop down. We couldn't get underneath those steel plates and panels. We pushed it as hard as we could. We got here a little after 6:00 and we had actual fire coming up, but it wasn’t anything like it was before. We got it knocked down pretty quick once we opened the door.”
Once the flames were knocked out again, workers with the 88th Civil Engineer Group came to help pull down the steel plates so the firefighters could get to the timbers underneath.
Beal said she thought the fire would have little impact on the construction project.
“The damage has really been limited, in the sense of, we're still going to finish the demolition,” she said. “Some of the stuff that we've pulled out that caught fire was stuff we were going to pull out anyway—old 1940s beams and things like that.”
The fire was discovered after the contractors had gone home for the day on July 18.
“The sprinkler system did its job,” Kitzmiller said. “The fire alarm activated. There was nobody harmed in the facility or while working on the scene.”
Beal expressed appreciation for all the base and local agencies that responded.
“I really can't say enough about the coordination with base CE, with the base fire department, with AFRL safety and with (wing) safety,” Beal said. “We practice all these things all the time but, boy, it was really heartwarming to see how everybody came together and how it really does work.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.02.2024 15:59 |
| Story ID: | 477595 |
| Location: | WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 60 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
