30-Hour Fire in Blizzard Tests Men and Apparatus
It was subzero weather and the snow was just beginning to fall as we responded at 1:53 a.m. on January 25, 1978, to a warehouse fire on the south side of Muncie. Everyone had taken the snow warnings lightly and there was only an inch of snow on the ground as we positioned our apparatus at the scene. We never thought that we would be fighting this fire for over 30 hours under conditions that would create a state of emergency—and then turn around and do it again.
The warehouse contained corrugated paper and had once been a storage area for machinery. The floor had soaked up grease and oil. Only five minutes after we arrived, the roof collapsed and fire was spread through a quarter of the block-long building. The developing blizzard hampered our operations to an extent, but fortunately we were well positioned before the storm became intense.
We were throwing everything we had at the fire and a general alarm called in 130 men. A hospital furnished us with blankets and the National Guard sent us cots. Once the men reported for duty, the blizzard prevented them from returning home.
Relief forces organized
Human endurance was put to its ultimate test under conditions such as we never faced before. Groups of 30 were sent out to relieve fire fighters on the fireground.
Limiting the exposure of the men became a prime concern as the weather worsened. Using as many as possible deck guns and a Snorkel helped the men significantly. Subzero winds carried water back from the blaze and coated our apparatus with as much as 12 inches of ice.
Hours later, when the warehouse blaze was under control we wanted to pull our FMC first-line pumpers from the scene, but they were frozen solid in ice up to 15 inches thick. With chains and the biggest backhoe the county has, they were freed. It was not that easy with our Snorkel, however, because the boom and controls were buried in ice. It took two days to free the Snorkel from the ice without damaging it, and we had to leave the motor running all that time.
Second fire occurs
The fire lasted about 30 hours and a portion of the warehouse had been saved. Our first-line apparatus was thawing out and we knew it would take 8 to 12 hours for the rest of our apparatus to thaw, even though we had raised the station temperature to above 80 degrees.
At 5:06 p.m. January 27, there was a natural gas explosion at a church only six blocks from Station 1. All the men were still snowed in at the station and our response was immediate. However, due to the severity of the blizzard it took two hours to shut down the gas mains. We had to evacuate Station 1 because the mains ran directly under it.
We survived the two major fires during a blizzard which left most of the Midwest in a state of emergency. We can now anticipate similar conditions with the confidence that comes from knowing we have beaten the elements before.
