January 17, 2001
TO: Spirit Lake East Board of Directors
FROM: Robert Max
Re: Interview with John de Bernardi
Per the request of the Spirit Lake East Board of Directors, I talked with Chief John de Bernardi regarding the fire on Coeur d’Alene Drive, which happened on December 22, 2000. I also discussed any pre-fire planning of the Spirit Lake East subdivision.
Regarding the fire, the chief stated that they got their first call at 9:06 AM. Their first engine arrived at 9:14 AM. This is an 8-minute response time.
When the firemen arrived, the structure was fully involved in flames with the gable ends of the building burning and falling down. The first arriving engine was a 1500-gallon per minute pumper with a 1000-gallon water tank. The chief said that even if there were city fire hydrants right in front of the house, they would not have been able to save it.
A later investigation revealed that hot ashes had been put on the deck at approximately
6 AM giving the fire 3 hours to smolder and burn before the fire department received their first call.
The chief stated that although they have no specific written plan when there is a fire in the Spirit Lake East subdivision, he always calls for mutual aid so that trucks and tankers respond from Athol and Rathdrum Fire Departments. This is done due to the lack of substantial water supplies in Spirit Lake East subdivision.
The chief stated that the time of response to Spirit Lake East homes is not the main concern. He said that the lack of a substantial water supply system i.e. no fire hydrants, insufficient pipe line size, and pumping capacity is the main problem. The chief recommended that we look into grants to upgrade our water system.
The chief also indicated that the roads were very icy of the morning of December 22, 2000. One responding truck slid into the snow bank and got stuck. The chief thought that road sanding would help with this problem.
The chief does not foresee building and staffing a fire station in the Spirit Lake East subdivision in the near future. He stated that if we had the water system upgraded, he would find money for fire equipment and would build a fire station in Spirit Lake East.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Max