November Incidents 2012

Each year, the month of November typically arrives with two regularly featured items of significance within the realm of public safety: the eventual cessation of Hurricane Season and the 'fall back' of re-setting our clocks backward one hour. The former's impact on public safety is quite obvious, but the latter always includes the reminder for everyone to check the operational readiness of all home smoke detectors, including the standard to replace all batteries whenever applicable. Remember: more than half of all fire fatalities in our country occur in the perceived sanctuary of one's home. Have your smoke detector ready for the winter and reduce the likelihood of becoming a tragic addition to that deadly statistic.

A tragic fire fatality occurred around 5:30 AM on Saturday, November 10th, as firefighters discovered the lifeless body of an elderly man at a structure fire on Wade Drive. The first arriving units reported that the single story, wood frame home had heavy fire and smoke swirling about the structure with the front porch especially compromised by the blaze. Adjacent exposures on both sides of the burning house were also being threatened, adding yet another dimension of both immediacy and expediency required by the first responders. Although extinguishment was achieved relatively soon, all efforts directed at saving the lone inhabitant were simply too late. The investigation into the cause promptly identified a space heater as the likely culprit: another grisly reminder of how important home fire safety practices are for all citizens, especially whenever space heaters become a part of that equation.
Although an elderly couple did manage, thankfully, to escape yet another residential fire reported on Tuesday, 20 November in the 12000 block of Toucan Drive, their beloved canine companion was less fotunate and died at the scene. Firefighters though were not only able to extinguish the ravaging blaze, a fire that threatened to completely destroy the single-story, single-family residence, but were also successful in rescuing the couples' two feline pets from the same fiery fate that claimed the dog's life. With the cause under investigation, the only immediate post-incident assessment available occurred in the form of the damages noted, with the aforementioned estimated well above $150,000.