The call to Paper Mill Lane in the Acadia Mill Rd. area of Bedford early in the evening of May 3rd came in as a deck fire. Before Engine 8 could arrive on scene from their station just a couple of minutes away, dispatch was getting calls that the house was already on fire. Quints 5 and 7 were also already on the road.

The Engine 8 crew under Capt. Richard Fong arrived to find the deck and the entire rear of the two-storey home a ball of fire. While Fong did his 360 to get a handle on the blaze, at the same time calling for a couple of extra units, firefighters Bill Brown and Richard Shirley hustled an 1 ¾ line to the rear of the building.

Meanwhile on the street, E-8 driver/operator Stephen Crooks, who had parked his rig within a few feet of a hydrant, hooked his own feed line.

The crew had the line in operation almost immediately and were able to knock down the large volume of fire in just a couple of minutes. As it turned out, the fire was literally seconds from extending into the home and gaining headway under the roof.

Next-in Quint 7 under Capt. Cliff Messervey took a line to the 2nd floor to check for extension into that floor as well as the attic area. There was none. They did find blackened areas and some charring in the attic, and the thermal imaging camera indicated hot spots in a couple of areas, but there was no actual fire extension inside the home.

The additional units weren’t required. When third-due Quint 5 rolled in they were placed in the on-deck position and later released. Engine 8_alpha arrived, staged for a brief time, and was released to cover Station 8. Engine 9 from Sackville was cancelled while still on the road.

Tact 1 was on scene and set up accountability.