NFPA Journal - Summer 2024 - 14

Dispatches Oddities
HUH?
RECENT HEAD-SCRATCHERS
FROM THE WORLD OF FIRE
AND LIFE SAFETY
UNEXPECTED
EARLY WARNING
When Matt Lebeis, a firefighter
at Lower St. Croix Valley Fire
Department in Minnesota,
programmed his Ecobee3
smart thermostat to alert him
when things got too hot or
too cold, he probably never
expected to see a reading of
more than 100 degrees F.
Lebeis was out of the
house one day in March
when he received a text
message and an email from
the thermostat that the temperature
in his home was
quickly rising. " It started at
85 and then went up to 90.
I thought, 'Is my thermostat
not working?' I was unsure
of what was happening, and
then it dawned on me that it
might be a fire, " he told the
Pioneer Press.
Lebeis was out of town but
asked his fire chief, Jim Stanley,
to go check on the house.
Stanley called in the fire a few
minutes later. " There was a
neighbor outside when I got
there, and he didn't have a
clue. The smoke wasn't even
coming out of the house, "
Stanley told the Pioneer
Press. " If (Matt) hadn't had
the thermostat, it would have
been a total loss. "
Responding firefighters
were able to contain the fire
to the kitchen, but there was
smoke and soot damage
throughout the house. Sadly,
Lebeis' two dogs died from
smoke inhalation.
14 | NFPA JOURNAL * SUMMER 2024
CANINE GAS
DETECTOR
Kobe, a four-year old Husky,
wasn't one for digging holes.
That's why his owner, Chanell Bell,
found it strange when Kobe dug two
holes in the same spot on the yard
of his Philadelphia home one day last
December. Bell, who had recently fixed
a gas leak from her water heater, had
a gas detector handy and went out
to investigate: gas was leaking right
where Kobe had dug.
Bell called authorities who confirmed
the leak, quickly fixed
it, and lauded Kobe as a neighborhood
hero. " If it wasn't detected and the gas continued
to leak into our homes, we were told it could've caused serious
health effects, " Bell told WPVI news in Philadelphia. " They
told me that something as simple as a light switch turning on
could've caused an explosion. "
Not long after, Bell wrote a children's book called The Dog That
Saved the Block Before Christmas.
HOT HOOCH
What could cause several
cardboard boxes filled with
bottles of vodka and whisky
to spontaneously catch fire?
Sunlight, it appears.
According to the news site
Syracuse.com, responding
firefighters and the owner of
a liquor store were initially
confused when several display
cases in the middle of
the Syracuse, New York store
burst into flames in February.
The fire happened at about
8:30 a.m., when the store was
closed and unoccupied.
However, video footage
from inside showed sunlight
hitting two cardboard boxes-
one containing vodka, the
other whiskey-then " wisps
of smoke can be seen curling
and rising into the air from
the boxes, " Syracuse.com
reported. " Soon, the smoke
spreads within the store and
two boxes ... can be seen
smoldering, the corners blackening.
About 35 minutes later,
flames broke out. "
The news website contacted
Ben Akih-Kumgeh, a
professor at Syracuse University's
College of Engineering
and Computer Science, who
said that sunlight pointed at
one spot on the cardboard
could have heated it to the
point of vaporizing tiny particles,
which then ignited.
The fire spread to nearby
CROOKED THEN, CROOKED AGAIN
The owners of a beloved local pub that burned down last August
have been ordered to rebuild it exactly as it stood-a tall task considering
the building was nicknamed the Crooked House.
The quirky local watering hole in the village of Himley in central
England was known for its leaning walls and lopsided dimensions
because it started sinking on one side soon after it was built in 1765,
the result of extensive coal mining in the area.
Fire gutted the pub last August just two weeks after it was sold;
two days later, the remains of the structure were illegally bulldozed,
making it impossible for investigators to settle on a cause of the fire.
As a result, the South Staffordshire Council ordered the
owners to rebuild the pub " back to what it was prior to the fire "
by February 2027 or face prosecution for failing to comply,
according to the Associated Press. " We have not taken this
action lightly, but we believe that it is right to bring the owners ... to
account, " said Roger Lees, the leader of the council.
display cases and grew hot
enough to burst liquor bottles,
eventually setting off the
fire alarm. When fire crews
arrived, smoke was pouring
from the store, but they were
able to extinguish the blaze in
20 minutes, Syracuse.com
reported. The store was
expected to reopen in two or
three months, the owner told
the news site.
THERMOSTAT AND GAS LEAK PHOTOS, GETTY IMAGES. AT LEFT, WIKEPEDIA
http://www.Syracuse.com http://www.Syracuse.com http://www.Syracuse.com
NFPA Journal - Summer 2024

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