Brookings first responders are top notch

Recently at our Brookings home we had some real excitement on what had been a peaceful Saturday morning.

My wife was out in the garden pulling weeds and when she went into the garage to use the dumpster, she discovered an odd smell, and when she turned to look around saw orange flames filling the inside of our car with thick smoke billowing out. She opened the house door and hollered at me in the study… the car is on fire!

I ran out and took a quick look and we called 911. Data from the official fire report proves the excellent team work demonstrated by this incident: the 911 call was made at 12:30 pm; Seargent Engstrom of the Brookings Police Department arrived in about 3 minutes and secured the area and gave us preliminary advice while awaiting the fire units; shortly Jared Runge, Fire Marshal, arrived and assessed the situation; by 12:37 two fire trucks and multiple Brookings Volunteer fire fighters were on the scene, controlled the fire, pulled the car out of the garage and continue to subdue the fire.

Within minutes of that it was all over.

The car was a total loss with the interior destroyed (the cause was a spontaneous electrical short in the passenger front seat). The house did not catch fire although the garage was smokey.

Overall, a very good result considering what might have happened had the house caught fire.

I think it is amazing, that this was controlled so quickly, and a seven-minute response time for two fire trucks and firefighters is a testament to their dedication, training, professionalism, and bravery (this was a dangerous situation… a car could have exploded).

So, THANK YOU Brookings Volunteer Fire Department and BPD for being our heroes that day. You bless our community with your service… Brookings is indeed someplace special.

David Zeman,
Brookings