Winter a peak time for fires, a tough time to put them out
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
An Elrama firefighter carries a hose up a driveway to the site of a fire in Union Township earlier this month.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at a building in Union Township earlier this month.
It’s flu season, freezing season, Phil season, football playoff season, cabin fever season … and fire season.
Whether blazes are more prevalent in the winter than any other time of the year is difficult to determine, but obstacles Mother Nature puts in place during the chilly months create that appearance.
A combination of cold, snow, ice and wind can lead to an increased use of space heaters, which can be fire or carbon monoxide hazards if not maintained or handled properly. Some consumers may use a torch in an attempt to thaw frozen water pipes – occasionally with tragic consequences. Candles and holiday decorations can create problems, as well.
Then, when a fire occurs, emergency response times can be slowed dramatically because of slick roads. And once they arrive, especially on frigid days, firefighters may have to deal with a frozen hydrant. If they have a water source, they have to keep it flowing so the hoses don’t freeze.
“(Fires), anymore, are almost a year-round cycle,” said Linn Brookman, chief of Washington Fire Department. “But they are more difficult this time of year because of adverse weather conditions.”
“There is a high percentage (of fires) during the winter months,” said Ron Sicchitano, deputy director of Washington County Department of Public Safety. “There are various reasons why a fire may ignite this time of year.”
Adverse weather has been prevalent this winter, and so have fires in Washington and Greene counties this month. Through Thursday, 10 blazes in 25 days had been reported to the Observer-Reporter. Nine had been in Washington County, eight had been residential, and one occurred in a chemical plant. There was even one on a bus on McKean Avenue in Charleroi.
None was fatal, but four people were hospitalized and a number of residents were displaced.
Residential blazes, of course, are a major concern, especially during these months. The National Fire Protection Association says, on its website, that “home fires occur more in the winter than in any other season.” NFPA added that “heating equipment is involved in one of every six reported home fires, and one in every five home fire deaths.”
“Secondary heating sources seem to create more fires now than in the summer,” said Jeff Marshall, chief of Waynesburg Franklin Township Fire Company. “You have an electric heater, put an extra draw in the outlet … We definitely see more (fires) in these three months.”
Brookman, whose Washington department is among the 2 percent of Pennsylvania fire companies composed entirely of paid staff, echoed Marshall’s sentiments.
“Multiple people with no heat try to get heat from gas stoves and end up with carbon monoxide,” he said. “Space heaters malfunction or there’s carelessness. People throw dry clothes too close to them. They’ll also use a lot of extension cords and overload circuits.”
Derrek White, chief of the Denbo Vesta Six Volunteer unit, said, “There are a lot of fires this time of year. There are people with furnaces and wood burners. We responded to an incident when it was really cold where someone was thawing pipes.”
Firefighting is a dangerous endeavor under optimum conditions. Working when it is frigid, when the gallons of water being used are instantly turning to ice, makes the site treacherous and ramps up hypothermia concerns.
Paul Pivac is well aware of the multiple perils he and his contemporaries face during the winter. He has been a firefighter for 42 years, as was his father for 57.
“The safety of a firefighter is important when it’s cold,” said Pivac, assistant chief of Cecil Township No. 3. “His safety at the location (of a fire), being able to do the job to the best of his ability, is so important. That probably works the same way in blistering heat.”
Keeping respondents fresh is important, as well. During the summer and winter, Pivac said, his department strives to have sufficient backups to relieve the initial crew. “One group will do the job for 20 minutes or so, then we switch crews out. Hopefully, by that time things are pretty much under control.”
Wintry roads are an impediment for any commuter, but are especially detrimental to first responders – and for the people whose facilities are smoldering. It takes longer to reach a burning structure than usual, and some units arrive with a skeleton crew because a number of their members had difficulty reaching the fire hall.
“Our issue down here is we run 110 square miles,” Marshall said of his Greene County unit. “We may have only seven miles to go to a house, and if the roads are bad, instead of driving 50 (mph) you drive 25.”
Arriving at and extinguishing a cold-weather blaze does not make it a completely successful mission, though. “You always have to take care of the residents, because they have been displaced,” Brookman said. “You have to make arrangements to help them find housing or a warming bus or a place to go because they can’t be standing around.”
No, there probably is no true fire season. There were more than 1.3 million fires nationwide in 2016, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. The toll: 3,390 civilian deaths, 14,650 civilian injuries and $10.6 billion in property damage.
Nearly one-third of those 1.3 million blazes – 475,500 – were structure fires that killed 2,950.
Early Friday, upholding tradition, Punxsutawney Phil will be enticed out of his burrow to tell the world whether it faces six more weeks of winter. Whether he sees his shadow or not, firefighters, fire victims – actually everyone – should remain on guard.
There is no overriding solution, although Marshall does offer a reasonable, and elementary, strategy.
“We all should go back to elementary school, to fire prevention,” he said. “We do fire prevention programs (for students) every October. A number of kids say they don’t have smoke detectors, and that’s a shame.
“Get detectors, plan to get out of the house if you need to. Practice fire protection at home. This is really important.”