It was early in the morning when most everyone should have been in bed and the volunteers of Stations 3 and 9 were doing just that when the tones dropped. Don’t have to tell you other firefighters but when you get a call at 2:30 a.m. in the morning and fireboard tells you that they have a report of a working fire your blood pressure rises as you gear up and mount up on the engine to respond.

The call put Engine 3, Engine 13 (NASFD), Engine 9, and Engine 6 along with a couple of ambulances from Lexington Park Rescue Squad responding and the boys from station 3 and station 9 were on the street in just a couple of minutes. Sleep-inn’s make all the difference in the world with your response time. Just look at station 13 (NASFD) when they are dispatched on a call.

Well Engine 31 arrived with squad 3 and took a hydrant just up the street from the house (21698 North Essex Drive) that had fire showing from the downstairs on their arrival. Engine 132 came in from the other direction and laid out from a hydrant on the corner of Saratoga Drive. Soon after Engine 91 arrived and did the primary search on the second floor and basement. Finding no one in the house they assisted with overhaul as the crew from Engine 31 made a good knock on the fire along with the crew from Engine 132. Engine 61 assumed the RIT team.

Fire Marshal was called to scene and it was determined that a candle had been left burning in the living room. There was extensive damage to the living room area and heavy smoke throughout the rest of the house.

While wrapping up after the fire was extinguished a call went out for a CPR call just a couple of houses away from the fire. Engine 91 was able to clear and respond to this call to assist the EMS people. It was a long night for the volunteers and they were glad to get back to bed for a couple of hours before getting up for work.

Fire Chief 3 Joe Gould held the North Essex command