PARKLAND, FLA. (WSVN) - Nearly 50 firefighters were dispatched to a massive barn fire in Parkland, where one firefighter was later transported to a hospital after showing signs of heat exhaustion. The firefighter is expected to be OK.
The incident happened at around 5 a.m., Monday, when units received a call concerning a barn and guest house fire.
Aerial video from 7Skyforce showed flames engulfing the structure located along the 7300 block of Northwest 82nd Terrace.
“We have a fully engulfed house fire,” said 7Skyforce reporter Steven Gray.
A neighbor who was walking her dog was the first one to notice the flames.
“Walking down my driveway and I thought I saw smoke,” said Maxine Gutman.
She immediately ran next door and called 911.
“I called 911 and then I tried to call my neighbor across the street and they didn’t answer. So I ran over there and I knocked, I rang the doorbell, I was banging on windows and I finally got them up and I got the out of the house because I know close their barn is to their house and I was afraid that their house would go up also,” said Maxine Gutman.
The neighbor told 7News that a young couple lives there with their two kids.
At the time of the fire, there were chickens inside the barn, but firefighters were able to safely remove them.
“We received a 911 call around 5 a.m., this morning from a resident who reported that their barn and their guest house behind their home was on fire. When our units arrived they found this large structure that was fully engulfed in fire,” said Deputy Fire Chief Mike Moser with the Coral Springs Fire Department. “Thankfully there was no animals in there that was trapped. Everybody was able to get out and at this point we did transport one firefighter to a local hospital and so far there’s no other injuries other than that.”
Firefighters were observed battling the blaze on the ground, from the exterior of the property because it was too dangerous to go inside.
The fire was stubborn and took a while to get under control, even then, smoke was still rising from the building and hot spots had to be monitored.
Officials told 7News that there’s a gap between the original roof and the new roof in the structure, which kept re-igniting the flames.
“This fire is still not under control,” said Gray. “They’re having to pump water from locations that are nearby as well.”
In this rural part of Parkland, there’s no fire hydrant, something Maxine said she’s been vocal about.
“Our neighborhood does not have fire hydrants and I have been fighting for the last 10 years,” she said.
Using nearby resources, crews pumped water from a nearby lake and pond, including using water from their tanker trucks, to ensure they had a sufficient amount of water on hand to aid in extinguishing the flames, but this tactic is extremely taxing on the body.
“Anytime that we have an area that doesn’t have fire hydrant or a water supply that’s suitable to suck water out of, there’s a process in place. It’s very labor intensive. There’s a lot of manual process and it takes a little bit more time, but obviously we do have a plan in place,” said Deputy Fire Chief Mike Moser. “In this area of Parkland, most of the time we have to draft out of canals and lakes to get water. Thankfully, we had enough water in our fire trucks and were able to draft out of local ponds and canals to be able to get water to put the fire out.”
Once the tanker truck’s water supply ran out, firefighters utilized local canals and lakes to keep fighting the fire.
“This is not the first time that we’ve been to a fire where there hasn’t been a fire hydrant close by. We figure it out. We find a location where we a draft water from. Whether it’s a lake or a canal, or it’s somebody’s swimming pool and we go there and we suck the water out of those locations and we put the fire out,” said Moser.
As of 10 a.m., the fire was extinguished, four hours after it started. Exhausted from the flames, rescue units switched out crews and took breaks as needed.
One firefighter was taken to the hospital but is expected to be OK.
“The firefighter is expected to be OK,” said Moser. “At this time, it seems like possible heat exhaustion related.”
The barn and guest house are completely damaged and the barn’s roof has since collapsed.
No animals or other people were injured.
Neighbors say they’re glad no one was hurt this time but are worried for the future.
“And if we do have a fire we’re going to lose everything and that’s a clear example,” said Gutman.
She says her neighbors are thankful for her quick response and were able to save their home.
“They were a little surprised and they thanked me,” said Gutman.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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