FRESNO (KMJ) — Three calls, all in the space of 90 minutes, made for a busy Thursday night for Fresno Fire.
“During the span of these three fires, we actually stopped responding to medical aids”, explains Fresno Fire Department’s Hector Vasquez.
He reveals that the number of call outs meant they had to instead focus resources on extinguishing the flames erupting all over the City of Fresno.
“We stopped responding [to medical aids] from the period of about 10.50pm until 12.50am, and that’s due to a resource drawdown”.
The first call came at 9.35pm, to a blaze in an apartment building close to the intersection of First Street and Clinton Avenue.
“That fire took about 30 firefighters to contain in a period of about an hour. There was one unit that was damaged out a fourplex”.
That blaze forced twelve people were out of their homes, due to all utilities being cut. The Red Cross is now helping those displaced find a new place to stay.
The second call came at 10.05pm, about flames engulfing a vacant house close to the intersection of Palm Avenue and Barstow Avenue.
“Had 16 firefighters on scene, took about 45 minutes to contain. Some of the hazards they faced was a half-full pool…and also power lines that went down.
“This was a reported vacant structure with initial reports of fire actually going through the roof”.
The third call came in at 10.45pm, close to the intersection of Maple Avenue and Tulare Avenue.
“The first arriving units identified that it was a detached garage that was fully involved with multiple exposures around the area”.
Crews knocked it down, and the blaze took around 20 minutes to contain.
“It tied up our units for a span of over three hours, there were over 70 firefighters committed during the three hour span to all three of these fires”.
Despite the trio of emergencies, there were no injuries at any of the sites.
“We just want to remind everyone to have a happy and a safe New Year”, concludes Vasquez.
Hear the story from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
