Ann Arbor firefighters called to blazes on opposite sides of the city
It's been a busy night for Ann Arbor firefighters, who were on their way to one house fire on the north side of town when they were called to a second one on the south side.
Both fires were extinguished relatively quickly. The first fire, in the 3400 block of Burbank Drive on the city's northeast side, injured two people, said Battalion Chief Chuck Hubbard.
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They were being treated at the scene, and Hubbard said it wasn't clear whether they would be taken to the hospital.
That fire started in the basement of a two-story townhouse about 6:15 p.m. The blaze was contained to the basement, Hubbard said. One resident was treated for burns and another for smoke inhalation, he said.
Hubbard said several fire trucks were on their way to the fire when a call came in about a fire on Chelsea Circle on the city's south side.
One Ann Arbor crew then headed to the second fire, and Pittsfield Township firefighters were called in to assist. That fire started on the stove and spread into the cabinets and the wall before it was extinguished. No one was injured.
He didn't have damage estimates available yet for either fire.
Comments
Chris
Tue, Mar 23, 2010 : 9:17 a.m.
BornNRaised, it's not the job of A2.com staff to face-check everything that is posted in the comments. The whole point of these comments is to encourage discussion/debate/etc. In my opinion, your follow-up comment is exactly what the folks running this site want to see; someone who took the time to put together additional data to counter a previous comment. Per their removal policy, the focus needs to be on the story/data and NOT on the people commenting - I'll bet that is why your comment was removed.
belboz
Tue, Mar 23, 2010 : 8:04 a.m.
Drink the Koolaid... That is my line! I'm not a Fraser flunky by any means. Fire related calls are just that - fire related calls. The primary purpose of the Fire Departement - in my opinion - is to respond to fires. EMS and Other are interesting ways to keep them busy, but when there is a Fire call, I expect the Fire Department to make that a priority. Which is why, I posted the Fire Related calls. As people comment and raise the "layoff" issue, it is only appropriate to point out the number of Fire Related calls so far this year. EMS and OTHER is nice filler for your team, but it is not the core responsibility. As more layoffs come, I'd suggest the city look for other groups or people that could manage these calls if they are critical to the city. Why is a Fire Truck and Fire Personnel needed for an EMS call? Fire Trucks should only be called when Fire is existng or a logical concern (perhaps traffic accident...).
Steve Pepple
Tue, Mar 23, 2010 : 7:53 a.m.
A comment was removed because it contained a personal attack against another commenter.
belboz
Tue, Mar 23, 2010 : 7:23 a.m.
With 49 fire related calls in the first 65 days of the year, that averages out to 0.65 times a day the department is responding to fires. So, I'm sure they were able to respond in a timely manner and were well rested for the double duty. There are still 5 stations, so it seems this 2 fire story shouldn't be that big of a deal. It is sad that our city is spending over $400sf to build the courts building, but existing buildings can be purchased for $100 sf. Horrible planning.
racerx
Tue, Mar 23, 2010 : 1:29 a.m.
How long before the Pittsfield Township department repsonded? Were they called due to one City of Ann Arbor truck already responding? Would it had made a difference if Ann Arbor had another truck available to respond? Did they not respond due to another truck at another fire? Point being, with the recent layoff's of Fire Dept personnel (and more to come), I'm just concerned that one of these days maybe Pittsfield might not be available and Ypsi or A2 Twnshp to far away and someone is going to get hurt. Oh, but at least I'll be able to park 600 cars, admire art downtown at a new building...
aanative
Mon, Mar 22, 2010 : 11:02 p.m.
Couldn't see that post coming for a mile! Good thing each fire was apparently well-contained by the trained and capable crews that responded, since "several trucks" were available to respond to the first incident. I hope the victims recover quickly from their injuries.
ff147
Mon, Mar 22, 2010 : 8:29 p.m.
Good thing this happened before all of the Fire Fighter layoff's!