A home in the West Valley area of Maricopa County, AZ, located off 87th Avenue and Deer Valley Road, was engulfed in flames on Thursday morning. A neighbor captured drone footage shortly after the incident occurred.
As soon as Mark Blosser arrived at the scene, he observed that the firefighters were facing difficulties in getting water on the house.
According to Blosser, there were numerous fire trucks present at the scene, but a water supply was not readily available. The team had to resort to pumping water from 91st Avenue up to the pump truck.
According to sources, the house that caught fire in Arizona’s Family had no fire hydrants nearby. This made it challenging for the firefighting crew to put out the fire as they had to run hoses down the block and around the corner to reach the nearest hydrant.
Valuable time was lost in saving the house due to the lengthy delay.
According to Ken Wier, a battalion chief at Peoria Fire, residing on a county island can lead to such situations.
According to Wier, the lack of hydrants is the main difference between this location and the ones they usually respond to. He mentioned that there aren’t many hydrants around the area, which meant they had to lay a couple of thousand feet from each end to get water to the fire. He acknowledged that living in the county and living unregulated comes with some trade-offs, and this is just one of the risks that people who choose to live there have to face.
At this very moment, a multitude of individuals who own homes in Maricopa County may be at risk of experiencing a comparable misfortune.
These individuals reside in a county island or an unincorporated area beyond the city limits. They have restricted access to water resources and no access to fire services.
According to Shawn Gilleland from Rural Metro Fire, homeowners who don’t have access to city services have several options available to them.
To guarantee a quick response in case of a medical emergency or fire, he suggests subscribing to Rural Metro Emergency Response. This will ensure that a team is dispatched to your home promptly.
A yearly subscription typically costs around $550 on average.
Several residents living on county islands, such as those in the Rio Verde area located to the north of Scottsdale, have constructed their own water tanks on their properties.
According to Gilleland, no safety measure can replace the fundamental fire safety precautions.
Gilleland emphasized the importance of having functional smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, as well as preparing the property with defensible space. This involves removing any potential fire hazards that could lead to a fire reaching the house, such as grasses or dead trees that could act as fuel and spread the fire to the roof.
To learn more about Rural Metro Fire memberships, simply tap/click here or give them a call at 480-627-6200.