PEGRAM FIRE DEPARTMENT

April 16, 2008 - 1710 Hrs  

At 1710hrs, PFD was paged to respond to 4024 Beverly Hills Drive for a residential structure fire.  Kingston Springs FD was also paged out automatic aid.  Cheatham County Sheriff Deputy 909 on scene advising flames through the roof and all occupants out of the structure.  Engine 502 and Tanker 511 responded due to no operational hydrants available.  E502 arrived and Chief 551 set up command and reported fire showing through the roof in the A/B corner of the structure.  After 3 minutes on scene, fire was now showing from the D side eve.  Command requested Metro Nashville FD and Two Rivers FD to respond tankers.  E502's crew started an interior attack by pulling ceilings and using two 1  3/4" handlines to try and gain control of the fire.  T511's crew set up a dump tank and started tanker shuttle operations.  Interior crews were not able to get control of the fire which was working from the A and D sides of the roof to the center of the roof.  Interior crews were pulled from the structure because of  deteriorating conditons due to the fire burning greater and roof collapse iminent.  E502 and E302 started a defensive attack using deck guns to start supressing the fire once interior crews were clear.  Garage doors were cut open with a K-12 saw and a Ford pick up truck was saved from the fire.  Fire was finally under control at 1836 hrs.  Crews worked extensively for almost 4 more hours performing salvage and overhaul operations.   Fire was contained to the structure and all exposures were protected.  The fire appears to have started in the basement.  The fire burnt for some time in the basement until it burst a window and then fire rolled out of it and engulfed the deck above it and continued from the deck up the wall into the roof eves.  An elderly occupant was inside the structure on the ground floor above the basement the whole time the fire was burning.  It was not until the deck was engulfed that the occupant discovered the fire and was then able to make it outside safely.  After further investigation, it was found that only 1 smoke detector existed in the structure.  It was located on the ground floor in the hallway.   Let this be a reminder to everyone to have at least 1 working smoke detector on every level of your home.  A working smoke detector in the basement of this structure may have saved a lot of fire damage but more importantly may have saved a life if the call were to have happened while all occupants were sleeping.