Structure Fire in Portland Leaves Home Destroyed
PORTLAND, TENNESSEE: (Smokey Barn News) A structure fire late Monday night in Robertson County left a home destroyed, and firefighters fighting the blaze in extreme cold conditions that severely hampered their efforts, the first call coming onto 911 at 8:28 PM.
According to Fire Chief Patrick Darrow with Orlinda Fire Department, crews responded to a fully involved two-story home in the 67oo block of J.B. Anderson Road, a Portland address located south of I-65. MAP
“When we arrived, the house was already completely involved,” Darrow said. “Before I even got there, you could see it fully burning from a distance.”
Multiple departments responded to assist, including the Orlinda Fire Department, the Hiland Volunteer Fire Department, Cross Plains Fire, White House Community, and Simpson County, Kentucky, all bringing tanker trucks with water. Due to subfreezing temperatures, each truck was only able to deliver one load of water before pumps, hoses, and equipment froze.
“We got one load from each truck before everything froze,” Darrow said. “That’s what we put on the fire. We knocked it down significantly, but the house collapsed into the basement. At that point, all that was left was smoldering.”
Firefighters faced dangerous and unusual conditions as the cold caused hoses to freeze solid and gear to ice over. In some cases, Darrow said, frozen gear formed rigid casts around firefighters’ equipment, requiring crews to keep moving to prevent further freezing.
At one point during the response, crews ran out of usable water entirely as pumps froze. The fire is expected to continue smoldering overnight, with no safe way to fully extinguish remaining hot spots until equipment can be thawed out at the station.
Two residents lived in the home, but they were able to escape without injury.
A family cat was unaccounted for. Fire officials said the animal was not seen exiting the home, but its status remains unknown.
As of now, the cause of the fire is undetermined.
“This isn’t something we can determine at this point,” Darrow said, noting the extent of damage and lack of access due to collapse and freezing conditions.
Despite the extreme weather, Darrow said firefighters remained on duty overnight and planned to rest at the station when possible before coordinating shift changes early Tuesday morning.
“If tomorrow is like today and yesterday,” Darrow said, “we’re going to need all the rest we can get.”
This is fire number two in as many days for Chief Darrow. On sunday a home on Lamont Rd ignited, again triggering a multi-agency response. FULL STORY
