Buffalo Grove fire a learning experience for neighbors

It's a way of fighting future fires with information about past ones.

Buffalo Grove firefighters revisit the scene of a serious fire to talk to the neighborhood about what caused it and tell people what they can do to prevent fires. A trailer is on hand to provide information about fire prevention.

It is officially called the "Code 3" program and is designed to address rumors, fears and theories that crop up in the aftermath of a major fire. Firefighters tell it like it is, answer question and offer advice.

On Wednesday evening, Fabish Court was lined with fire trucks, as fire officials returned to discuss the April 30 fire that left a two-story house uninhabitable. The garage was completely gutted, while the rest of the house, which sustained much less damage, was boarded up.

As to the cause, there was no smoking gun, but there probably was a cigarette butt.

Fire investigator Steve Rusin said interviews confirmed that "one of the gentleman in the home was a smoker and had discarded a cigarette. And that's most likely the cause of the fire."

"There is no way, with that amount of fire, to find that cigarette butt," Fire Chief Terry Vavra said.

It's believed the butt came into contact with fresh wood chips lining the wall in front of the house. The fire itself was something of a perfect storm in the way it was allowed to build. No one was home, and a neighbor did not have a view of the front of the house. The 15-mile-per-hour winds gusting up to 34 miles per hour acted as a factor. Vavra said the fire likely started a couple of hours before it was detected.

"Fire is just three things," he said. "Fuel, heat and oxygen. The decomposing of that wood builds heat. - That with a little bit extra heat was all it needed. - You can get the same thing to happen with grass clippings in a plastic bag. People compress it and it builds up the heat, melts the plastic and ignites."

Once ignited, a small fire is going to build. "Fire grows exponentially. It doubles in size every three to four minutes."

Vavra said firefighters arrived within roughly two minutes after receiving the call, but by that time the blaze was raging.

Battalion Chief Joe Wieser was the first on the scene. As he left the fire station, he could see that smoke, because of the wind, was pouring across Deerfield Road. He immediately upgraded the alarm.

When he pulled in to the street, the fire was already tearing through the garage roof. With the ladder truck, the goal was to wet down the top of the garage to keep the fire from spreading to the eaves of the second floor.

"We didn't succeed on that because of the jump it had on us."

Firefighters worried someone might be trapped inside, but he met the owner's son, who told him that no one was home, which meant firefighters could focus on firefighting rather than fire rescue.

"All in all," he said, "it went real well."

One person asked whether residents could request an inspection by firefighters.

"We have to be invited in," Vavra said. "We look at it before it's built, but not after."

He reminded the crowd of the importance of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

"They call carbon monoxide the silent killer. It's odorless, tasteless, colorless. It just kind of floats. It generally rises, because it's lighter than air" and can reach families sleeping upstairs.