HEMET: Three adults, 8 children displaced by residential blaze
A firefighter directs water towards a hotspot inside the garage. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
HEMET – City of Hemet firefighters responded to multiple reports of a residential structure fire Friday, Jan. 6. The fire was reported in the 3600 block of W. Sydney Street near the intersection of Melbourne Court in Hemet.
Firefighters were first dispatched to the residential fire about 10:50 a.m., after numerous citizens called 911 to report the fire to City of Hemet emergency dispatchers.
When the first fire officials arrived on scene, firefighters reported finding a single-story, single-family residence with a garage fully engulfed in flames and requested additional resources to the scene.
Four of the City of Hemet’s five engine companies from all around the city responded the blaze. They were assisted by Hemet Fire’s Truck One, a paramedic squad, a battalion commander, and the State of California’s OES Engine 352.
OES Engine 352 responded to the scene of the fire to assist. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
OES Engine 352, one of two OES engines assigned to the Hemet area, is owned by California through the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The OES engines, which are lime green in color, are distributed to local jurisdictions throughout the state to assist in Mutual Aide calls and other emergencies.
Once firefighters were on scene, they mounted an aggressive attack and managed to knock the fire down within minutes of their arrival.
“An aggressive initial attack action by our firefighters confined the fire to the garage,” Fire Chief Scott Brown said after the fire. “(The) fire was confined to the garage (and) firefighters kept the fire from spreading to the house.”
Chief Brown proudly attributed the “good stop” to “aggressive firefighting” and “strong command leadership,” while he enthusiastically praised the efforts of firefighters, saying, “Nice job today by your Hemet Firefighters!”
In spite of the damage to the garage, firefighters saved the living areas of the residence from being destroyed. Miguel Shannon/Epicenter News photo
Southern California Edison and the Southern California Gas Company were summoned to the scene of the fire to turn off utilities to the residence to ensure the safety of firefighters on scene of the blaze.
City of Hemet Building Inspectors were also called to the scene after the fire was extinguished to determine if the residence was still safe to remain at.
Red Cross representatives were later called to the scene to assist with three adults and eight children who were reportedly displaced by the fire.
No other structures or homes were damaged and there were no injuries to citizens or firefighters associated with the fire, the cause of the which is still under investigation.
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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.