Main Street Firefighting: Lessons from a Complex Main Street Fire

In this episode of Main Street Firefighting, get an inside look at a challenging downtown fire involving legacy brick buildings with cockloft involvement—fueled by heavy winds and complicated by unique building features like spiral staircases and metal roofing. The department’s rapid third-alarm call, strategic placement of crews at front and rear, and innovative use of a drone with thermal imaging helped identify hidden fire spots and halt the blaze’s spread. Despite resource limitations in a small city setting, strong interdepartmental coordination, disciplined radio communication, and tactical roof and hose operations kept structural collapse and loss largely in check.