South Beach Regional Fire Authority firefighters kept moving Thursday morning as a call for smoke was immediately followed by an RV fire that destroyed the vehicle.
The first call came in at 6:24 a.m., said Battalion Chief Darryl Brown.
“We had a possible structure fire that was investigated. There was no flames, but the smell of smoke,” Brown said in a phone interview. “Then we received that additional request for a second structure fire at the same time.”
The second call, which came in just after 7 a.m., meant firefighters had to rapidly pivot to handle it, Brown said. The second call was for an RV fire that occupants had evacuated due to fire, Brown said.
“(I) was enroute,” Brown said. “I saw a smoke column from Montesano Street, several blocks away.”
The fire was at American Sunset RV and Tent Resort. Brown requested additional support based on the call.
“They found a fully involved trailer,” Brown said. “We went directly to a defensive posture and protecting the exposures on the left and the right of the fire trailer.”
With the first trailer completely consumed, firefighters worked to prevent additional RVs from being destroyed in the blaze,
The close one had some minor smoke and fire damage.
“We were able to knock the exposure down pretty quick,” Brown said. “Our intention was to contain the fire to a single RV.”
The location of the fire complicated the response, Brown said.
“Inside the park, there wasn’t a fire hydrant. We did have some water supply issues,” Brown said. “We did lose water for a time while we were waiting for tender support.”
The fire was nevertheless knocked out rapidly, Brown said, though the totality of the damage means the cause is unlikely to ever be known.
“The fire was declared out at 7:51 a.m.,” Brown said. “We don’t know cause. We believe the origin of the fire was in the front bedroom of the trailer based on the witness statement.”
The back-to-back fires, chased by a number of smaller calls, had the department hustling Thursday morning, Brown said. No injuries were reported as a result of either call.
“It did put us thin for a period of time,” Brown said.
Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or michael.lockett@thedailyworld.com.
