Phoenix and Glendale Fire Department, with about 25 firefighters, responded to a house fire at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The two-story vacant home is located at 6024 N. 47th Ave. West near 47th Ave. & Bethany Home Road in Glendale.
Flames coming from many parts of the house sent huge clouds of smoke into the air. Firefighting crews were seen pulling siding off of the house to gain access to the interior to gain control of the fire.
On arrival, Phoenix firefighters tackled the flames with an offensive approach, meaning crews tried to combat the fire from the inside while looking for anyone who may have been in the house.
Firefighters seemed to have contained and under controlled the blaze by 5:30 p.m..
Glendale Fire Chief Mark Burdick described the fire as an intense blaze that caused items being stored in and around the structure to go up in flames.
No one was inside the house, and Burdick said it was possibly a situation where the resident had been hoarding.
Two Phoenix firefighters were rushed to Maricopa Medical Center with burns suffered while battling a house blaze on Wednesday evening in Glendale, according to fire officials.
Two Phoenix firefighters were rushed to Maricopa Medical Center with burns suffered while battling a house blaze on Wednesday evening in Glendale, according to fire officials.
One of the firefighters suffered first-and second-degree burns to his legs, abdomen, arms and hands. The other firefighter suffered first-and second-degree burns to his arms and hands.
The one injured firefighter was badly burned but alert and speaking to colleagues while on the way to the Phoenix trauma hospital's burn unit, said Danny Senese, a Glendale Fire Department spokesman.
"We always approach these situations knowing that there's a certain amount of danger. It's a hazardous occupation," said Ron Hart with the Glendale Fire Department. "However, that's what the community asks of us and that we will risk our own lives to save others."
The cause of the fire is not yet known. A fire investigator remains on the scene of the vacant house which burned trying to determine the cause.
(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)
