Charlotte Fire Department

On April 1, 2009 at 12:42 p.m., E-26 and L-26 were dispatched to 11150 Westlake Drive for a fire alarm activation. This address houses US Cotton: a large industrial occupancy that processes and refines bulk cotton. E-26 was first to arrive at 12:46 p.m. and noted that the employees had evacuated and were indicating that there was an actual fire. E-26 the established Command and requested a working fire assignment. Battalion 5, Battalion 3, E-37, E-38, E-20, Rescue 10, and HM-1 were added to this assignment.

Command assigned his crew to L-26, and gave directions to advance the hoselines from E-26, locate and attack the fire. As the working fire companies were responding, Command maintained his position in A Division while L-26 located the fire that was now burning at the ceiling level and moving laterally across the entire width of the building. With that, L-26 attacked the fire using a single 1 ¾” hoseline. Command then directed the crews of E-38 and E-37 to join L-26 and assist with the fire attack. As those crews were making their way to join L-26, E-37 established a water supply and connection to the sprinkler system while E-38 established a supply line from E-26 and hooked soft to a nearby hydrant. Due to the history of this occupancy, the size of the building, and the size of the fire, Command struck a second alarm at 12:51 p.m. Command then directed the crew of E-20 to make the roof for inspection via L-26 and established a Rapid Invention Team (RIT) utilizing E-21.

Battalion 5 arrived at 12:55 p.m. and assumed Command. The fire was knocked down and controlled at 1:02 p.m. while both the primary and secondary searches were completed by 1:04 p.m. Fire Investigators determined that the fire was accidental and began on top of a fluorescent light fixture that was covered in cotton fiber dust. The light ballast inside of this fixture malfunctioned, overheated, and ignited the dust fibers on top of it. When that happened, workers from the floor level attempted to extinguish the fire using dry powder extinguishers. However, these fixtures are some 15’ above floor level and their attempts only created more fiber dust- thus pushing the fire to the ceiling level and above the sprinkler system. At some point, a worker did activate the fire alarm system but no employee notified the 911 system that this was an actual fire.