By Paul Garrod
Staff Writer
news4garrod@gmail.com
PAW PAW – The Paw Paw Fire Department was dispatched to the 63000 block of 38th Street in Paw Paw Township at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 23, for the report of a structure fire with flames and smoke showing.
Initial units arrived at the scene to find a fully involved garage and well-involved house on fire. “Fire fighters from Paw Paw, Lawton and Decatur were very resilient and battled brutal single digit temperatures and snow for several hours,” said Paw Paw Fire Department Fire Chief Kyle Richardson.
Fire fighters cleared the scene at approximately 6:30 a.m. A total of 20 Paw Paw fire fighters responded. The exact cause of the fire is unknown currently and is under investigation, according to Richardson.
The Paw Paw Fire Department was assisted by the Lawton and Decatur fire departments, Van Buren Emergency Medical Services, and Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office Central Dispatch.
Richardson said of the single digit temperatures, “Regarding the cold and snow, it definitely adds an obstacle that we have to overcome and makes our job more difficult, but we are very prepared to handle harsh winter conditions.”
Richardson said, “Exposure to cold temperatures takes a toll on the fire fighters. It becomes very important for the chiefs to keep an eye on all fire fighters operating on the fire ground to make sure personnel are being rotated out. The extreme cold temperatures are also hard on our equipment. At the start of every winter, we put our apparatus in “winter mode” which includes draining the pumps to prevent any freezing within the pump while en in route to a call. It becomes critical to utilize help from our neighboring departments for assistance and have an A, B, C plan when dealing with extreme winter conditions.”
