Unattended Food Brings Full Structure Response in Lakeside

Glenview - An alert neighbor called 911 when she noticed the sound of smoke alarms and an odor of smoke in a residence in Lakeside on Tuesday night, October 26, 2010. Heartland Communications dispatched a full residential structure assignment for a possible house fire in the 13000 Block of Aurora Drive. Firefighters from the Lake Jennings fire station (fs3) were first on scene with a strong odor of smoke and audible alarms sounding in the single-family residence. Engine 3's crew forced a window and made entry, discovering unattended food on the stove and a moderate amount of smoke in the residence. No resident was home at the time. Firefighters focused on removing smoke from the home.

The presence of operating smoke alarms made the difference between a routine unattended food call and a probable structure fire.

Units assisting on this incident included E1, E2, E3, M3, B1 (Lakeside); E19 (San Miguel); T4 (Santee); E3382 (CalFire).

Engine 3 on scene.

Cooking is the leading cause of fires in structures.

Story by: Captain Scott Culkin, Lakeside Fire District
Photos by: Engineer Chris Downing, Lakeside Fire District