FIRE DESTROYS WELCHES HOME; NO ONE HURT posted on 02/01/2009
(WELCHES) – The Hoodland Fire Department threw everything it had at a house fire, but the inevitable could not be avoided.
The home of Robert and Marylin Schuberg, at 27260 Elk Park Road in Welches, went up in flames Jan. 17. Fortunately, the house was unoccupied at the time.
"This fire was designed to test us," Fire Chief Mic Eby said. "Everything that could have happened, did. It was really something."
Eby cited the high winds as the major culprit, but the narrow access road, sparking power lines that attracted PGE trucks to the scene, gusts that blew the sparks into the face of the firefighters, four other calls received during the event, a tree down on Fairway cutting off the route to a backup fire hydrant – all these things combined to create a perfect conflagration. Senior Firefighter Scott Kline investigated the incident.
"We’re still working on the details (as to the cause of the fire)," Kline said. "But we know it was electrical and we believe it started in the garage."
The call came in at 7:59 p.m. and the fire department response was an impressive six minutes.
"We were on the scene at 8:05," Eby said. "I was in the first engine and I was on a nozzle immediately. It was a headache getting the truck in, and when we got to the house the roof had already caved in. It was lost before we got there."
The battle raged to contain the fire and save neighboring houses. The blaze licked at the thick canopy of cedar trees and the wind fanned the flames above the banks of the Salmon River.
The entire Hoodland force took part, including 23 firefighters, three fire engines, four tenders, two utility vehicles and a rescue rig.
The "loss stop" signal went out at 10:59 p.m., indicating there was no more damage the fire could cause. It had been reduced to smoldering embers in less than three hours.
The fire was called out officially at 11:30 p.m.
"Except for me, they were all volunteers," Eby said. "It’s amazing what this community can do."
The last engine returned to the station at 12:45 a.m.
During the fire calls came in of power lines down on Kirkwood, a fire alarm went off on Bright Street, a tree took power lines down on Gumjuwac and two trees fell across Barlow Trail.
It was a perfectly difficult night for the Hoodland fire team.
by Larry Berteau/The Mountain Times
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