LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
An alert neighbor and quick response by Langley firefighters June 15 successfully extinguished a fire in an unoccupied base housing unit that officials said could have engulfed the entire duplex.
Chief Master Sgt. Lemuel Casillas of Air Combat Command Public Affairs, who lives next to the unit, smelled smoke in his kitchen, but could not find the fire.
"When I looked out of the window from my kitchen I saw smoke pouring out of the attic vent in the house next door," said Chief Casillas. "I grabbed my cell phone and went outside to check. There was smoke pouring out of multiple parts of the house."
He placed the call to emergency services at 7:57 a.m. and four crews arrived at 345 Harris Street within three minutes.
Chief Casillas yelled into the house, but found it vacant and waited for the fire department to arrive rather than entering the burning building himself.
"I approached the front the door only to realize the bottom portion of the door was already partially burned out; I could see into the house. There were flames, and I could hear the crack and popping of wood," said Chief Casillas. "I called out of concern...that someone may be inside or the fire may spread to other the housing units.
Within minutes of the call, the crews arrived and found the first floor of the unit filled with smoke and the second floor engulfed in flames. Jeremy Guernsey, lead fighter, entered the building with his crew in tow and encountered a large hole on the first floor from fire damage, which the crew had to navigate around.
"Second nature kicks in," said Senior Airman Noah Paxton, fire rescue technician." We take it one step at a time."
Mr. Guernsey used an infrared camera to determine where the fire was located and the crews navigated their way up to the second floor where they encountered more flames and an additional hole in the floor. They broke windows throughout the house to ventilate the area and help clear the smoke.
Mr. Guernsey said that if the neighbor had not called in the fire, the entire house "would have been fully engulfed within the hour."
After putting out the flames, the firefighters tore the sheeting on the wall to fend off the "devil in the wall," a term Staff Sgt. Matthew Reinhardt, crew chief, said is used to describe any remaining flames in a wall that could prevent the crews from completely extinguishing the fire.
"We had previously practiced this procedure and we knew what to do," said Senior Airman Heather Bacher, handline operator.
The firefighters receive monthly training on how to put out structural burns. Recently, the Langley fire department, which is part of 1st Civil Engineering Squadron, took advantage of the training opportunity available during housing renovations at Bethel Manor. They practiced breaking walls and tearing sheeting off so that when a real fire occurred they would know how to handle it.
"The Langley firefighters are true professionals," said Chief Casillas. "Their timing and team effort was really great. I was told there was a shift change at the time of the fire, but I couldn't tell because they worked so well together."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and the monetary damage not known at this time.