Ky. Firefighters Nearly Hit by Vehicles at Fire Scene

Nov. 23--Firefighters were nearly struck by motorists Friday morning while responding to a fire in the 400 block of Kentucky 136-West outside Geneva.

The homeowner had left the house about an hour before the story-and-a-half brick house caught fire, said Fire Chief Bryan Coghill with Corydon Civil Defense Fire Department.

Corydon was first on the scene and able to respond quickly because they were all dressed and ready to go. Four of the department's firefighters had been at Chandler Elementary for the school's career day when they were paged out for the fire, Coghill said.

Smoke was showing when firefighters arrived. Corydon parked its engine truck across both lanes of the roadway to halt traffic as they responded to the fire.

As the firefighters were unloading their equipment, one of them was nearly hit by vehicles that driven into the ditch and back onto the roadway to get around the fire engine. There were at least six or seven vehicles that did this, Coghill said.

Firefighters responding to a scene are busy and do not have time to pay attention to motorists, said Smith Mills Fire Department Chief Mike Coghill, whose agency also responded to the fire.

"They need to turn around and go the other way," he said about the motorists. "The last thing we need is a to have a firefighter run over at the scene trying to save someone's life."

As other fire departments arrived, the roadway had so many fire engines in the area that motorists didn't attempt to drive through the ditch, Bryan Coghill said. Kentucky State Police and the Sheriff's Office were called in for traffic control.

It took about 10 minutes to knock down the initial fire, he said. Firefighters cleared the scene at 11:37 a.m.

The home had a lot of smoke and heat damage. Most of the fire damage was contained in the bathroom and the attic located above the bathroom.

It appears that a hot water heater in the bathroom had shorted and caused the fire, Coghill said. The utilities to the home were shut off.

Aside from Corydon and Smith Mills, Niagara Fire Department and Union County Fire Department also responded. The Henderson City-County Rescue Squad and the ambulance service were also called to the scene.

Copyright 2013 - The Gleaner, Henderson, Ky.