Bedford, VA Communications alerted Companies 7 (Huddleston-1st due), 8 (Moneta-2nd due), and 1 (Bedford-RIT) to 2548 Bethesda Drive for a report of smoke coming from the eves of a private dwelling. Ladder 1 (with six) responded to fill the RIT assignment but once on scene quickly went to work as the Search Group and Vent Group because of a lack of manpower. Division 1 located and extinguished fire in the walls on the first floor and requested that command assign an attic division to check for extension above. A "Mayday" signal was declared early on into the incident when a Company 1 firefighter fell approximately 20 feet when the fold-down attic ladder he was using to access the attic broke sending him down a flight of stairs into the basement. Fellow firefighters assisted him to the exterior where he was treated and transported for non-life threatening injuries. The attic division did locate extension in the attic and once extinguished the fire was marked under control. The home belongs to Company 7 firefighter Hayden Nichols. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Haden and his family.
