QUEEN CREEK, AZ — What started as a small garage fire in a Queen Creek neighborhood quickly ballooned to a larger response fire, as fire crews worked to repair fire hydrants and used the fire engine's water to reroute the water from other hydrants to control the flames.
Tuesday night, people living in a neighborhood near Ellsworth Road and Germann Road went outside to see their neighbor's home engulfed in flames.
The town said the fire was upgraded to a working fire before the first units arrived on scene and ultimately became a first alarm fire with 26 units responding from Queen Creek, Mesa and Gilbert.
When the first units arrived, the town said they were unable to access the hydrants adjacent to the home, including one less than 600 feet away.
“[They] all arrived on scene, only to find that the fire hydrant down the street was not working,” neighbor Rick Paradis.
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Crews relied on their truck water while utility crews worked to fix as many hydrants as possible.
Town officials said utility crews were eventually able to restore water to three of the four hydrants that night, however more repairs needed to be done on two of them due to damage.
On
Wednesday, the town said they repaired the damaged hydrants and inspected all 51 left in the community.
The fire, concerning multiple neighbors over fire hydrant maintenance.
"Just to make sure everything's checked annually as required and make sure that our community is safe to prevent any further loss like this. Unfortunately, my neighbor lost his home. It is a total loss,” Paradis said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The town said they have completed 1,350 fire hydrant inspections since last fall and plan to have all hydrants inspected by the end of the year.
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