At 0831 hours, 12 December 2010, Engines 12, 19, 8 Rescue 12, Truck 2 and Battalion 3 were dispatched to a structure fire at 71st St and 2nd Ave N. Engine 12 gave a report of a 2 story wood frame house with, heavy smoke coming from the roof. Engine 19 reported on the scene and dropped their plugman at the hydrant and laid 1, 5” supply line into Engine 12. Being the acting officer on Engine 19, fully dressed with all PPE and handheld radio, I proceeded to the front door of the structure to assist Engine 12s crew with pulling slack for the 1 ¾ preconnect. Engine 12s crew had not located the fire and was searching for the origin of the fire. I entered the structure and proceeded up the stairs with 1 personnel from Engine 12. Upon reaching the top of the stairs I asked Engine 12s firefighter to get me a pike pole so we could access the attic. There was zero visibility upon ascending the stairwell and there was no heat. I took 2 possibly 3 steps into the second floor and unknowingly walked between two 2×4 studs of a framed unfinished wall. After a few minutes waiting on 12s crewmember to return I began to search for the stairwell to exit the 2nd floor. I knew I had taken a couple of steps so when I felt one of the studs of the wall, I moved back the way I thought I had stepped. When I moved I came to another stud. I immediately dropped to the floor to reach for the steps down and did not feel them. Being against what I thought was a wall; I began to do a right handed search of the room thinking I would make my way around the room back to the stairwell. After making my way around the room I ended up over the fire room which was right below me. Engine 12s crew had located the fire and had begun extinguishment. There was a lot of heat in that area and I quickly moved away to an area, that I did not know at the time, but was right were I had stepped through the studs. I then conducted a MAYDAY over the radio and activated my PASS device and waited on the RIT team. What I did not know is that the house was under restoration and the second floor was having a second room added to it. The studs that I walked between were approximately 22 inches apart. The smoke had traveled through the balloon construction walls and the floor of the second story was plywood that had large gaps at their seams.
LESSONS LEARNED: Never be inside a structure by yourself, always carry a tool inside, never consider a fire "routine", and always have your radio with you.
