Columbia Fire Department responds to electrical incident, March 12

On Thursday, March 12, at 9:46 p.m., Columbia Fire Department (CFD) companies were dispatched to an electrical incident in the 2900 block of Bray Avenue.

CFD arrived within three minutes to find light smoke in the area, but no active fire was showing. Initial dispatch reports indicated a tree had fallen onto a home, leading to a building collapse; however, upon arrival, firefighters noticed a large tree that had fallen in the backyard of a home, which brought down conductors from the residence's electrical service entrance.

Firefighters immediately entered the structure and located a working fire in the basement that was coming from tubing that fed gas to a furnace. Crews shut off the gas line and the fire was quickly extinguished. The damage sustained to the electrical service entrance electrified various components of the structure, resulting in electrical arcing throughout along with multiple small fires. Although crews had turned off the main electric breaker to the home, various components remained energized and were considered extremely dangerous.

Due to the life-threatening hazards inside the structure, all fire ground operations were ceased and firefighters evacuated while awaiting personnel from City Utilities to arrive. Once the crew arrived, the electrical service entrance was disconnected and firefighters resumed operations. Fire companies remained on scene to extinguish hotspots while limiting damage to the already compromised structure.

A total of five fire companies, two Battalion Chiefs, a Safety Captain and a Fire Marshal, comprising 21 personnel, responded to the scene. There were no injuries.

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