Clearview Township firefighters comb through the remains of a home in the south end of the township destroyed by fire, Oct. 10. - Roree Payment Photo
Two Clearview Township firefighters are giving thanks for their protective equipment after they were caught in a flashover while fighting a house fire.
A flashover occurs when most of the combustible material in an enclosed area — including smoke — hits ignition temperature, simultaneously.
For Chief Roree Payment, one of the two firefighters in the room at the time, it was a first.
“I’ve been close (to being in a flashover), but never to that intensity,” he said. "Everything combustible just lit up."
Fortunately for both men, they came out unscathed, albeit with some scorched equipment.
Firefighters were called to the home south of Creemore just before 3 p.m. on Oct. 10, after the lone resident in the home was woken by the sound of a smoke alarm.
Payment said he was able to get to a neighbour’s house to call 911. Firefighters arrived to find a working fire on the main floor of the residence on the township’s 3rd Concession.
Crews undertook a quick attack, but a shift in the direction and intensity of the wind fuelled the flames; from there, the fire rapidly grew, Payment said.
It was that burst of extra oxygen that led to the flashover, he said.
Crews also had to contend with an explosion. Payment said the cause of the explosion is not known, though he acknowledged that the home did have a propane supply — he said the explosion resulted from the fire. The Ontario Fire Marshal is investigating as a result, and the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) was notified.
“It was (strong) enough to blow all the windows and doors out of the structure,” he said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Crews remained on scene through the evening and into the morning of Oct. 11 on spark watch.
Payment estimated the value of the loss at $600,000.
Link to original article on Simcoe.com: In a flash: Clearview firefighters caught in flashover while battling home blaze