On my way home from work on May 13th, I came upon a van fully involved in heavy fire, parked on the shoulder in the middle of Radar Flats…which is about 2 miles east of the Highway 50/I-44 interchange…I started seeing heavy black smoke rising high in the air after passing the Hwy 100 Overpass and then traffic started slowing down for one lane to pass by the heavy flames…I noticed the family that had occupied it, walking up to a roadcut that was below the storage sheds on the north side of the interstate…they were dragging a small boat filled with their possessions…I figured someone had already called it in but I called 911 anyway and Franklin County Sheriffs Dispatch answered. I asked if they had the call on a van fire on wb I-44 in Radar Flats…the dispatcher asked where that was located…my first thoughts were like seriously dude ?? you dispatch for Franklin County and you don`t know your county well enough to know where Radar Flats is located ???? do some ride alongs and get acquainted with the county…geez….but answered him with the mile marker and proximity to the storage sheds on the hill above the highway…he replied that they had received several calls on it…I asked him if they had dispatched Boles Fire District on the call yet, cause it was not only fully involved with heavy fire coming out of every window of the van but traffic was also backing up and down to one lane…instead of answering, he disconnected the call, most likely to answer another caller reporting the fire. I pulled over on the shoulder just west of the van and shot some photos and video while waiting for Boles to show up….
…most of the passersby had the sense to move over to the passing lane to pass by the fire…some apparently lacked the common sense to do so….
…here is the first video I shot of the van….
I made the 911 call to Franklin County as I approached the scene, then parked on the west side of the van, got out and started shooting, it was a good ten minutes before Boles Fire approached from the east…not sure if it was a slow dispatch or heavy traffic or both that delayed their arrival….
…I have a lot of firefighter friends on Boles Fire and they have a very good department, five stations and a training center as well, they drive yellow green fire trucks and I don`t hold that against them at all. 🙂 On their arrival the Engineer/Driver positioned his truck wisely to protect his crew from traffic, hoselines pulled and a single firefighter took the nozzle and started the attack, foam appeared to be used to extinguish the fire….
As I stated in the video, good job on the knockdown by a single firefighter on the nozzle !!