On Sunday there was a huge fire at the South Shore Beach and Tennis Apartment Complex, in the afternoon I spaced on my way to South Shore Shopping Center and took my usual route to via the Shoreline and ran into numerous emergency vehicles and plenty of news vans in the aftermath of the fire. According to a KGO report, there were 20 families displaced by the fire and eight units sustained damage which caused $1.5 million in damage.
The good news is that there were no injuries to Fire personnel or to civilians, there have been references to a missing puppy, but most news reports haven’t covered that yet. However, if you watch te KGO report, the reporter speaks to a resident that was trapped by the fire and rescued by ladder with his maltese. The report also posted a photo of another firefighter rescuing what looks like some sort of terrier type dog.
Also according to the report, another resident speculated that the fire might have been caused by another resident attempting to make his room more comfortable. It wasn’t clear if the spark was caused by a space heater or some other heating element, but the lack of sprinklers in the building probably caused the damage to be a lot worse than it could have been with proper fire surpression equipment.
This Alameda resident took 11 minutes worth of video of the fire and the rescue:
I know that after Memorial Day, public safety in Alameda was ridiculed and mocked by some folks questioning their courage in the face of danger. What the video shows are is numerous firefighters risking their lives entering the burning buildings to save people (and their pets) and control the blaze. And for that we should all be thankful.
What the video shows are numerous firefighters risking their lives
Don’t mean to be picky but sounds wrong. Maybe a singular/plural mismatch?
Comment by Jack Richard — December 20, 2011 @ 8:36 am
Absolutely right, thanks for the catch!
Comment by Lauren Do — December 20, 2011 @ 8:41 am
huh? I wasted 6 minutes watching the first half and all I saw mostly were firefighters moving around nonchalantly.
Comment by Frank — December 20, 2011 @ 8:45 am
Media also reported that all residents had rental insurance and Red Cross housing vouchers were not required.
Comment by Basel — December 20, 2011 @ 9:34 am
The extensive damage caused by this fire could have been greatly reduced had the complex’s owners installed a fire sprinkler system. I’ll bet it would have cost them less than repairing the damage to this fire, too. An ounce of prevention….
Comment by Jon Spangler — December 20, 2011 @ 9:52 am
Congratulations to Michael D’Orazi on being named Fire Chief yesterday. He has already shown himself to be an excellent leader of AFD and has been impressive every time he has appeared before the City Council.
Comment by Jon Spangler — December 20, 2011 @ 9:55 am
The water helps save the structure but it destroys personal property almost as well as the fire does. Then there’s the smoke. Even if your clothes don’t burn, if the smoke is very bad, they will never get the odor out and so those things are chalked up as a loss. Same for mattresses, etc. The tenants losses will probably be about the same even if there were sprinklers. Thank goodness they had renter’s insurance. The claim process is always a nightmare but it beats having nothing. My friend’s house burned in October and we’ve had a crash course in dealing with the aftermath of a fire. Few of her clothes actually went up in flames but she only got about 25 items back after inventory and cleaning. In her case, the smoke was extreme, though. We always like to say, it could have been worse, but believe me, any fire damage to your home is a very bad thing. These people are going to need help. In spite of the fact that my friend is disabled, has no health insurance and lost all belongings including her medication, and her glasses in the fire, the Red Cross was only able to offer counselling sessions to help deal with the fact that her dog perished in the fire. Insurance is a great help but it doesn’t cover everything and many renters are underinsured. Yes there are services but if you have any resources at all, even a credit card, you probably won ‘t qualify to get them. If you know any of these people, be sure to lend a hand. My friend has had to rely on her friends and church to get by until the insurance company pays up, and the policy holder must prove ownership of their possessions to be reimbursed, a lengthy process. A reminder to do a video inventory with your narration of your home and its contents every 2 years and check your policy.to make sure you have adequate coverage. Great resource is United Policyholders website. It’s a non-profit that helps fire victims deal with the insurance company (uphelp.org).
Comment by Denise Shelton — December 20, 2011 @ 1:07 pm
7: Denise, the huge advantage of fire sprinklers is that they slow or stop fires from spreading before they have a chance to damage so many dwellings. And they save lives–human and otherwise. I’d be willing to bet that had fire sprinklers been installed and had they kicked in, much less damage to both the structure and personal property would have occurred because the fire would never have spread as far as it did.
It is always a tragedy when someone suffers from being in a fire, but it is even worse when such things are preventable, as the extent of the damage from this fire might have been…
Comment by Jon Spangler — December 21, 2011 @ 1:07 pm
Spangler
It is always a tragedy when someone suffers from DROWNING, but it is even worse when such things are preventable,
Comment by Dr Poodlesmurf — December 21, 2011 @ 4:05 pm
Merry Christmas Poodlesmurf!!
Comment by Jack B. — December 21, 2011 @ 5:16 pm
8
“I’d be willing to bet that had fire sprinklers been installed and had they kicked in, much less damage to both the structure and personal property would have occurred.”
Depends on whether the FD got there while the fire was still burning. Their fire hoses discharge up to a hundred times more water than sprinkler systems. In that case it’s probably a toss-up whether the fire or the water causes the most damage.
Comment by Jack Richard — December 21, 2011 @ 5:31 pm