Fire Truck Catches On Fire Inside Fire Station

[matcom]

<snip>

Four St. Louis firefighters struggled early Sunday with a blaze in their own firehouse, where their truck caught fire.

It happened about 4 a.m. at Engine House 24 in the 5200 block of Natural Bridge Avenue.

This morning, fire Capt. Steve Simpson gave this account:

The firehouse crew of four had returned an hour of two earlier from a call. Three were alseep, and the fourth -- Firefighter Darian Benford -- was on watch. Advertisement

He smelled smoke, checked and found that the engine of the pumper was on fire. Benford rousted his three mates, and the four grabbed fire extinguishers to douse the flames.

But their air tanks were on the truck and unavailable, so all four suffered from smoke inhalation. Benford also hurt his back, Simpson said. They were treated and released.

Simpson said that other than smoke damage, the firehouse was all right. A replacement pumper is on duty there today, he said.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/laworder/story/ED88ACF3CFD7F9FC8625727900449DBD?OpenDocument

[rug]

1. Civilians in pajamas heroically rushed to the scene.

[matcom]

2. ...

:rofl: