Concord firefighters battle fire inside own station; truck severely damaged
CONCORD, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Inside Concord Fire Station 8, a fire and water restoration crew worked to wipe soot off surfaces.
Shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday, the guys who normally come to other people’s rescue found themselves putting out flames.
“You don’t typically see fires or think about fires in your current facility,” said Concord Fire Chief Jake Williams.
Popular Concord restaurant shuts down after nearby construction hits water line
Williams says he was awake this morning when the alert came through on his phone. The five firefighters who were inside the station serving the south side of town all made it out thanks to a robust sprinkler and alert system.
“When you’re in this line of business, there’s always the unexpected, so they train for unexpected things to happen, so the crew here performed extremely well,” Williams said.
Firefighters say the garage was filled with smoke after their reserve ladder truck caught fire. Still, later that day, the smell of smoke and burned material lingered throughout the building and into the dormitory. Charred pieces littered the ashy floor.
Crews were able to get their main fleet, swift-water rescue truck and safety officer truck out of the garage before turning their efforts to smothering the flames. With the exception of a deep clean and garage door replacement, damage to the fire station will be manageable. The truck, however, is toast; an estimated $1.2 million loss.
“Anytime that you lose one of your company’s [equipment], definitely impacts your operational standpoint for having a reserve, but we do have different venders that we reached out to,” Williams said. “We’ve had another fire truck recently that got totaled on the interstate. We had a vendor supply us with a rental fire truck, so there are rental fire trucks.”
Charlotte house fire where 3 firefighters were injured was intentionally set
They determined the fire was electrical, and Williams says they’re working with their insurance company on next steps. In the meantime, he says the community can rest assured their response times won’t be impacted, and Station 8 remains open.
“Only time this company was out of service, they were on the call for the fire inside their building,” Williams said.
There were no injuries. Williams says this fire is a good reminder to the public of the importance of having smoke detectors.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
