VIDEO LINK PROVIDES TIMELY WARNING FOR FIREFIGHTERS

At about 5 p.m. on Monday, assistant Township fire chief Pat Walker
sent a video link to all the department's firefighters.

It may have saved the lives of firefighters who, only 90 minutes
later, fought a house fire in Walnut Grove.

The video described the legal use of common floor joists, which are
composites of wood and glue.

They are lightweight, strong and inexpensive. The problem is that they
burn very quickly, so quickly in fact that several firefighters in the
U.S. have died when floors like these collapsed beneath their feet.

Walker told his crews that this type of construction is common in
commercial and multi-family construction.

Known as a "silent floor," the joists were used to build a house in
the 9300 block of 202A Street, in Walnut Grove, in the late 1990s. The
house was badly damaged when fire broke out shortly before 6:30 p.m.
on Monday.

The fire originated in a sub-panel of the main electrical panel in a
closet which housed a water heater and furnace.

When the joists burned, the water heater crashed to the crawl space
below, severing a water pipe which helped douse a marijuana grow-op.

The closet was attached to the garage of the house, which is in River
Wynd, a subdivision on compact lots. Although the fire was extensive,
it did not spread to adjacent houses, Walker said.

Firefighters from Walnut Grove and Willoughby fought the fire which
was first spotted by a neighbour who lives diagonally across the
street. Firefighters arrived to see heavy smoke billowing from the
upper floor and the garage, and noticed flames escaping from a vent on
the south side of the house.

The origin of the fire was traced to the closet where the sub-panel
had been used to divert electricity to the crawl space.

The house sustained structural, smoke and water damage to the tune of
between $150,000 and $200,000.

The home owner can also expect to pay Township fire department
expenses, because the fire was due to an illegal operation, Walker
said.

"The homeowner is going to be stuck with a fairly extensive bill for
this fire," he said.

The house was occupied by two renters, and is now uninhabitable.
Water, electricity and gas services have been disconnected.

Walker said that the fire serves as a reminder to landlords: "They are
responsible to check to ensure that even in rental homes their tenants
are not using these homes for illegal operations."