I wanted to take a moment to address concerns raised by Mr. Bryan in his letter to the editor Feb. 1, and apparently based on his assessment of a photograph taken during a recent structure fire.

At this particular fire, Peachtree City Fire Department was on scene three minutes and 31 seconds after being dispatched. Upon our arrival, more than half the home was already heavily involved in fire, which produced enough heat to ignite the neighboring fence and deck and melt the vinyl siding from a neighboring home. All occupants of the home were already outside.

The initial fire attack team entered the home through the front door with a large diameter (2.5 inch) attack line to cut off the fire from portions of the home not already involved in fire. A second attack line was assigned to the area outside the garage.

This location provided ready access to the seat of the structure fire, two vehicles that were also on fire, and the ability to protect neighboring homes and property that were being threatened or set on fire by radiant heat.

Any occupant who had attempted to fight this fire with a garden hose would very likely have been injured. A garden hose just does not have the pressure or volume to combat a structure fire or even many subsequent exposure fires. Firefighters brought this fire under control in less than nine minutes.

To correct some other misinformation in Mr. Bryan’s letter, the fire department can and does shut off natural gas to fire scenes whenever appropriate and the main valve remains functional. If the main valve has already been compromised/destroyed, it is necessary to call Atlanta Gas Light to respond, locate the gas line, uncover the gas line (with a power shovel), and clamp the line.

Mr. Bryan also appears disturbed by the fact that firefighters do not “pull meters” from electric service. That was accepted practice more than 20 years ago, but has been discontinued due to specialized training and equipment required to do so safely.

Our firefighters can and will disable electric service via the main breakers or service disconnect when present. We leave “pulling meters” to electric power company personnel, as they have requested.

I might note that DeKalb County also follows this procedure. As to “pulling electric meters”, I would suggest you contact your local electric company or building official, and ask them.

Mr. Bryan is correct in his advice that should your home or business ever catch on fire, make sure everyone is out and has a pre-arranged location to meet. This is prudent safety advice for any location. Once out, please stay out. Do not go back in to turn off gas or electric.

While I fully understand and support every citizen’s right to express his or her opinion, I hope that you as editor will contact me directly if a writer makes such serious allegations about a vital public safety issue. I will certainly investigate any procedures that warrant change, but would hope that our citizens could be provided with factual information.

I would also note that the quote attributed to the “Fire Chief” in Mr. Brian’s letter did not originate from me or my staff.

Stony R. Lohr, Fire Chief
Peachtree City, Ga.

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