Thanksgiving Day Trailer Fire

Thursday, November 24, 2005 - Breckenridge, CO

On Thursday November 24 at approximately 7:30 A.M., Red, White and Blue Fire was called to Kingdom Park Court for the report of a trailer fire. Two fire engines, one ladder truck and a Battalion Captain responded to the fire. The first arriving engine found a large amount of smoke coming from the trailer and immediately prepared to fight the fire. Three firefighters entered the trailer. Once inside they encountered intense heat and zero visibility due to the large volume of smoke. They were quickly able to locate and extinguish the fire in the back bedroom. Other crews arrived to ventilate the trailer using high pressure fans to clear the atmosphere inside. Interior crews confirmed the initial report that no one was inside, as given by a neighbor upon arrival. Once the fire was out the crews performed a thorough search to ensure that the fire had not spread to other hidden areas of the trailer.

Fire Investigators have determined the cause of the fire was electrical. A combination of older aluminum wiring, an overloaded electrical circuit, and a mattress pressed up against an electrical outlet causing the plugs and wires to be bent all contributed to the cause of this fire. "This is a perfect example of why it extremely important people don’t push any furniture up against their electrical outlets," according to Fire Investigator Jay Nelson. "When wiring is bent or crimped it causes a lot of resistance in the wire which cause a heat build up. This heat can often times be enough to ignite a piece of furniture and start a fire, as we saw here today."

The fire caused extensive smoke and heat damage to the trailer, but no cost estimates of damage was available at this time. The occupant of the trailer was put in touch with the Red Cross to assist with finding temporary shelter.

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Press Contact:
Capt. Kim Scott, PIO
cell: 970.485.4374
email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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