A Barrhead family woke up to a surprise early Christmas morning, but unfortunately for them it wasn’t the sound of Santa Claus on the roof. It was their fire alarm.
On Friday, Dec. 25, at about 4:57 a.m., the Barrhead Fire Department was called out to a report of a possible structure fire on the 5200 block of 47 Street.
Barrhead Fire Chief John Whittaker said when fire crews arrived, they could see no visible flames coming from the structure, but they did see smoke.
“By using our thermal imaging camera we were able to determine the fire was coming from the attic area above the kitchen,” he said, adding firefighters were able to quickly get the fire under control and contain it to the attic area.
However, due to the fire’s location a lot of work was required to not only make sure the fire was extinguished properly, but that it wouldn’t reignite.
“Because the fire was in the attic, there was a lot of insulation we had to suction out and that took a lot of time,” he said, adding fire crews also took extra care not to cause any more damage than was necessary to ensure the fire was extinguished properly.
The cause of the fire is believed to be electrical.
“An overdraw on the electrical is what probably caused the fire. They had too many things plugged in the garage, which caused an overload in the system,” Whittaker said, adding for some reason the overload didn’t cause the breaker to trip.
All the occupants of the residence made it out of the house safely and no one was injured.
“It could have been much worse,” he said. “But this is a good reminder of why having properly working and tested smoke detectors is so important and why people should be careful not to over burden their electrical systems by plugging in too many appliances, tools and lights into one circuit, especially at this time of year when it is so easy to do.”
The residents of the house are currently staying with family members and it is expected that they will be able to move back into the house in a few days after some electrical repairs are made.
“Our firefighters also removed all the gifts Santa left, so the family was still able to celebrate Christmas,” Whittaker said.
In addition to the house fire, the Barrhead Fire Department responded to two other calls on Christmas day.
Whittaker said at the same time fire crews were mopping up from the structure fire on 47 Street, he had to divert some members to assist Associated Ambulance crews a few blocks away with a patient transfer. Later in the day, fire crews were also called out to a fire alarm in Barrhead County.
“It was a pretty busy day for us and I want to thank all of our members who interrupted their own Christmas celebrations to help their fellow citizens,” he said, adding on Christmas day about 15 Barrhead Fire Department members responded to calls.
