On September 26, 2006 @ 19:52 hours the Iron Mountain Fire Department was paged by county dispatchers to a reported house fire at 417 Vulcan St.

Engine #1 with a three man crew responded to the call and was on location in three minutes. Lt. Jared Cudnohufsky reported fire showing on the south (D) side of the structure, assumed command and ordered an immediate Code 3 call back of the chief and all off duty firefighters. Two civilians,who were trying to remove pets from the house, notified firefighters they were unsure if anyone was still in the home.

Engine/Operator Jim Owen deployed a 1 3/4” cross-lay while Engineer Ted Valeski put the engine in service. Eng/Oper Owen advanced the charged handline into the structure backed-up by Lt. Cudnohufsky. A quick primary search of the first floor was negative. Firefighters then extinguished visible fire in the living room as they made their way to the second floor. The search of the second floor was conducted with no signs of any occupants, but one live dog was found and removed to the outside. Firefighters made a quick knockdown of fire in the second floor main bedroom then exited to extinguish the fire on the exterior of the building. Lt. Cudnohufsky took this time to reevaluate the situation and prepare for incoming firefighters. Upon his arrival, Chief Johnson assumed Vulcan St. command.

Engine # 2 with a four man crew responded and was given orders to proceed directly into the scene, as Eng. #1 had already established a 5” water supply from the hydrant. The chief ordered fresh crews to the first and second floors with tools and handline for secondary search, fire extension and ventilation. Secondary searches found several live animals of various types which were removed to the outside. While opening-up looking for fire extension, crews found that the fire had made it into the attic area. Several crews continued to work on extinguishing small pockets of fire and completing overhaul throughout the dwelling. The fire was quickly declared “under control” by the fire chief and crews began to breakdown several of the handlines used to combat the fire. Firefighters were back in the station at 22:43 hours.

The fire was confined to a few wall cavities the entire height on the south side of the structure along with smoke and water damage throughout. The cause of the fire is faulty installation of a chimney from the wood stove located in the basement. Origin of the fire was low on the south wall of the structure. No injuries were reported and all the families’ pets are said to be fine.

Engine #1 Crew: Lt. Cudnohufsky, Eng. Valeski, Eng/Oper Owen

Engine #2 Crew: Lt. Pirlot, Lt. Lauersdorf , Eng. Tompkins, Eng/Oper deBidart

Unit #5: Eng/Oper Drago

Chief: Dan Johnson