Dumpster Fire on Dogwood Terrace

On Saturday March 7, 2009 at 16:17 hrs., RFD members were dispatched to a dumpster fire in the front yard of 61 Dogwood Terrace. Deputy Chief Carl Held was the first to arrive to find a 40-yard dumpster full of building materials on fire in close proximity of a new home under construction. He ordered the first due engine to stretch an 1-3/4" line to knock down the fire which was beginning to grow in size and was located very close to the front porch. Engine 432 pulled up and Christopher Warnet, Steve Forbes and Lt. Lou Warnet stretched and positioned the line on the porch to attack the fire. Engine 431 was ordered to position next to 432 to supplement additional water and the crew was assigned to assist the hose team and perform the task of overhauling the dumpster. The rear door was opened up to allow members to pull the materials out. Engines 433 and 436 arrived and the crews were used to assist in overhaul. Captain Randy Sterbinsky took operations and all fire was extinguished in a short amount of time. Though the fire was relatively small, the potential of a much larger incident was imminent as some of the materials in the dumpster were combustible, such as paint and wood stain cans and plastic containers.