After battling five residential and one commercial structure fire in less than a month, the Evanston Fire Department is asking residents to take common sense steps to help prevent similar fires from starting.
“There are many things we do simultaneously at fires,” said Evanston Fire Department Division Chief Kimberly Kull. “We have crews both come in for search and rescue and in addition there’s also extinguishment, which happen simultaneous.”
“As we’re trying to get the hose lines in place, we will put both engine and truck crews into the structure to provide line advancement as well as extracting any individuals that are found along the way,” she said. “We try to notify people as quickly as possible to evacuate the structure and we’ll do search patterns in addition to extinguishment as we progress toward the seat of the fire.”
Those were the vital steps Evanston firefighters took during most recent residential fire that happened on Feb. 18, in a multifamily residence in the 1700 block of Hartrey Street, said Kull. Due to smoke and water damage, nine residents and one dog were displaced from the structure and the American Red Cross was called to assist the displaced residents and animal, offering shelter and “wraparound services,” she said.
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That blaze happened five days after a Feb. 13 fire on the 4th floor of a four-story multi-residential structure in the 700 block of Washington Street. Residents evacuated the structure before the arrival of fire crews and one civilian was provided medical care on the scene but later refused transport to a local area hospital.
And on Feb. 9, the Evanston Fire Department responded to multiple reports of a fire in a multi-residential three story brick structure in the 900 block of Judson Avenue. In that blaze, responding companies encountered a heavy fire on the third floor of the three-story courtyard complex and immediately called for additional resources to contain the threat. There were not any injuries but two pet cats died in that fire and the American Red Cross was notified to assist 13 displaced residents.
On Feb. 3, Evanston Fire Department responded to reports of a fire at 4 Suns Fresh Juice in the 1900 block of Main Street, where first-responding companies encountered darkened storefront windows and smoke visible from the roof line. The fire was quickly upgraded to a “Working Fire response,” bringing in neighboring fire departments to assist with the commercial fire and other calls within Evanston, said Kull.
And on Jan. 27, a house fire in a single-family residence in the 800 block of Grey Avenue upgraded due to advanced fire conditions, bringing in additional resources to assist with fire investigation and City coverage. The fire was extinguished within less than 20 minutes but extensive smoke and water damage resulted in the displacement of all residents within the building.
Another fire caused extensive damage to a two-story, multifamily unit on the 2000 block of Emerson Street, displacing six residents and damaging one of the units. One resident was escorted out by firefighters, two were given medical care and one was transported to a hospital for evaluation.
Kull said the department has not yet released to the public what caused any of those fires, but she also said that by far most similar blazes are caused by either cooking food left unattended in a kitchen or by the improper use of electrical devices.
“When you are cooking something do not leave what you are cooking unattended,” she stressed. “A kitchen fire can start and spread quickly if you’re not paying attention.”
Evanston Fire Captain John Roach said the improper use of electrical surge strips or plugging too many electrical devices into a wall socket can also easily start fires.
“Electricity is like water,” he said. “It flows and often times what happens is the cord will be knotted or bent or broken, and that can be a cause of what we call ‘leakage’ for electricity to get out of the cord.”
“Usually what happens if a power strip fails, people have plugged too many things in,” he added. “If you’re trying to draw more than what the device is designed for that’s where you’re going to have problems. It may spark or arch and that will ignite any materials nearby that are flammable.”
Kull also said every residential and commercial structure should have working smoke detectors.
“They save lives,” she said.
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.