On the morning of October 30, 2008 the occupants of 38 Hoskins Road awoke to the sound of their smoke alarm and discovered smoke on the second level in addition to hearing crackling sounds. A chimney fire had found its way into the attic. The occupants immediately called 911 and made a safe exit from the home.

The Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company was dispatched at 0128. First arriving units found heavy smoke emitting from the ridge and gable vents, and the soffits. An initial attack line was stretched from Engine 8 to the second floor where personnel encountered a heavy smoke condition at the ceiling. The structure presented itself as a ranch dwelling but was a modified dormered cape which meant the attic was a small area than ran the length of the house with no direct access except a small scuttle in one closet. This construction allowed fire to travel freely overhead. Additionally, crews encountered a stairwell which rose ninety degrees to the front door and then made a one-hundred and eighty degree turn on the second floor, the hallway which then ran the entire length of the structure before opening into the sleeping areas. This second floor layout provided extremely limited maneuverability for personnel.

Engine 13 and Tower 12 used ground ladders to access the roof and vertical ventilation operations proceeded. As the cutoff saw worked to open the roof, flames began to almost immediately issue from the kerf cuts in addition to fire taking hold at the ridge vent. Personnel were removed from the roof as conditions quickly deteriorated but interior crews credited the roof operation with checking the spread of the fire and holding it up in the attic and void spaces.

The fire's head start and overhead inaccessibility provided for a very labor intensive operation with many ceilings and knee walls having to be pulled to expose all of the fire. Personnel worked laboriously to bring the fire under control in addition to achieving successful salvage operations on the first floor where significant personal belongings were protected from water and debris damage.

Personnel arrive to find heavy smoke emitting from the structure.

Modified dormer on the Charlie side of the structure.

Smoke condition on the second floor.

Flames begin to appear from the ridge vent as personnel cut the roof.

Flames begin to take hold at the ridge and along the cuts made to open the roof.

Fire quickly intensifying on the the roof.

Interior crews working on the second floor.

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Personnel arrive to find heavy smoke emitting from the structure.

 

Photographs by Ken Beliveau