| Strong thunderstorms moved through Rockland County Monday evening as Nanuet volunteers prepared for their weekly Monday night training drill. As it seemed the worst of the summer storms had passed, a chilling message came over the radio.
At 6:49pm, the Chief of neighboring Pearl River FD (Dept 12) transmitted a request for 44-Control to dispatch his department to a confirmed working garage fire... at his own house. As the storms passed through the southern part of the county, lightning struck a nearby tree and jumped to the veteran Chief's detached garage, setting it ablaze.
As per a pre-determined mutual aid agreement, Pearl River FD (Dept 12) was dispatched along with a Nanuet FD F.A.S.T (Firefighter Assist and Safety Team) team. FAST teams respond to any possible or confirmed fire in order to function as an emergency rescue team for firefighters who may get hurt or injured during initial fire attack.
Because Nanuet volunteers were preparing for their Monday night drill, Chief Mike Mattera (8-1), Asst Chief AJ Knapp (8-2), and a full crew aboard 8-1750 responded to the call in less than 1 minute, thus arriving at the scene simultaneously to Pearl River FD's first due pumper 12-2000.
Because the Chiefs already on scene were able to confirm that the garage, already heavily involved in fire, was unoccupied by any people, it was determined that no crews would enter the structure, and therefore a FAST team would not be immediately necessary. It was quickly decided to utilize 1 3/4" attack hand lines from both pumpers to douse the blaze before it could have a chance to spread to the house, only yards away.
Nanuet and Pearl River crews quickly protected the exposures while knocking the blaze back, reducing it to only a few hot spots as dozens of firefighters arrived on scene.
The quickly extinguished fire was deemed under control a few minutes later, and all Nanuet units returned to service shortly thereafter. |
