Red, White & Blue Firefighters Fight Fire and Frostbite at Late-Night Fire

Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - Breckenridge, CO

At approximately 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night, Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District was called to a chimney fire at 505 Village Rd., the Cedars.

Upon arrival at the condominium complex, firefighters observed flames visible from the outside of the chimney. After the residents evacuated from the unit, firefighters made entry into the condominium and encountered heavy smoke and heat.

Access to the source of the fire behind one of the walls was difficult, as the walls were tongue and groove paneling. Firefighters opened the wall and extinguished the fire.

Red, White & Blue’s aerial ladder truck, Tower 4, positioned over the roof and firefighters cut an access hole in the roof, allowing most of the heat and smoke to exit the condominium.

With temperatures hovering near the -30 degree mark, Red, White & Blue Incident Commander, Russ Austin, kept a vigilant eye on firefighter exposure to the cold and alternated the firefighters through rehab to warm up.

“We are happy that no one was hurt or injured and that we were able to make a quick attack on the fire,” said Austin. “The weather certainly played into our safety concerns, but we kept moving and stayed on top of it,” he said.

Fire Chief Gary Green noted that, “for the second time this week, our firefighters have been asked to go beyond the call of duty with some pretty difficult emergencies. We train for cold weather operations, but -26 degrees is ridiculous. “These firefighters really stepped up,” he said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but does not appear to be intentional at this time.

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Press Contact:
Battalion Chief Kim Scott, PIO
cell: 970.485.4374
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