Epoxy Table, Fire Door
On September 10th, 2017, Hurricane Irma made landfall in South Florida. Units from Hollywood Fire Rescue, Station 5, were dispatched to the report of a structure fire with possible civilians still inside. I was on Engine 5 with DE Steve Bradford, FF Max Golisnski, & FF Laetin. We were the first arriving unit. As we drove down the block we encountered heavy grey smoke pushing across the road in a 40 mph wind. The east side of the house was on fire from the exterior and the fire was pushed into the house by the wind. I declared a working fire and had my crew stretch two handlines to the east side and start putting water on the fire. Platform 5 soon arrived, and Capt Brian White was the officer. Brian and I met up by the front door and prepared to do a search of the interior. We forced the door open, Brian grab my TIC and we entered the structure. There was zero visibility as soon as we entered, but the heat wasn't bad. We were about 5'-6" inside and I heard Brian yell something at me. BIn that moment there was a massive explosion inside the house. The pressure wave picked both of us up, and threw us out the front door, feet first. As we hit the walkway the door slammed shut and the entire house disintegrated. Exterior crews stated that the roof lifted off at least 5 feet and collapsed into a fireball. Brian and I made our way out to the street as Engine 105 arrived. The men and women of Hollywood FD fought the fire for the next four-plus hours. The goal of this firefight was to keep the fire from spreading down the street and burning down an entire city block. We achieved that goal, while the storm continued to intensify and the storm surge flooded the streets. Three firefighters were injured during this fire, but none were life-threatening. A video from this fire is attached at the end.