|
St.
Simons Island – Shifts were just changing when an alarm
sounded at Fire Station 2 on Demere Road and Station 4 on
Frederica Road, St. Simons Island, Georgia at 8:26 a.m.
The Volunteers were toned out and within 2 minutes first
in Engine companies arrived at 1128 Beachview Drive at a duplex
near the beach at St. Simons Island.
When
Engine 2 and Squad 15 arrived just 2 minutes after the call came
in there was fire and smoke coming from the west side of the
duplex. Off Duty
Lt. Pete Walters was at the scene making sure everyone was out
of the structure. There
were bystanders outside one of the bedroom windows putting water
through the window of the masonry structure with a garden hose
with little effect on the fire itself.
Firefighters
Kelvin Kight-Crawley and John Hehr quickly gained access through
the unburned side of the affected duplex and within 3 minutes
after arriving on the scene a knockdown was declared.
Fortunate for the firefighters, the fire was stopped
before it moved into the living room or attic space above the
duplex.
Immediately
after the knockdown was declared, the Fire ground Officer
noticed one of the occupants off to one side lying on the ground
with bystanders. A
closer investigation revealed that the individual had left the
scene and returned. The
individual, a nineteen-year-old renter told the fire officer
that he had crawled out of the window and moved his car where it
would not be destroyed by the car.
The individual also explained to a police officer that he
had left the scene to cool off his legs in the ocean near the
rental unit and had returned to the scene.
In
either case, the roommate of the injured individual had said
that he and his injured friend had been up extremely late and he
had finally gone to bed around 3:30 a.m.
The fire apparently began in or near the 19-year-old’s
bed sometime later. The
blaze woke up both occupants each in two different bedrooms when
fire began burning the nineteen year olds feet and legs in the
early morning hours. He
escaped the blaze by crawling out window.
The
Glynn County Squad 15 transported the occupant to the local
hospital where he was treated for first degree burns on his legs
and feet. It was
estimated that only $6,000.00 to $8,000.00 in damages were done
to the apartment and the rapid knockdown prevented further
damage to the duplex from occurring.
Firefighters found two wires coming from the ceiling from
a hallway, apparently for a smoke detector.
The rental agent for the unit said that smoke detectors were given to the maintenance
man to install but firefighters found no smoke detector on
location.
|
