Spontaneous Combustion: Firefighters Save Sister Bay Restaurant
by Paige Funkhauser, Door County Advocate

The spontaneous combustion of freshly laundered towels was the likely cause of flame and smoke damage May 15 in Moretti's restaurant in Sister Bay, according to Capt. Mike Goldstone of the Sister Bay-Liberty Grove Fire Department.

The greasy towels, even though they'd been washed, still contained flammable material and were packed into the canvas laundry bag in just the right way to allow for the chemical reaction to culminate in ignition of the towels, Goldstone said.

Passersby who saw smoke in the window of Moretti's called 911, Goldstone said. Firefighters from the Fire Department arrived to find smoke in the building, but extinguised the fire with about five gallons of water. The quick response saved the building at 517 North Bay Shore Drive. The Ephraim Fire Department provided help through the Northern Door mutual aid agreement.

Restaurant owner Paul Pavlik, who also is a probationary firefighter explained that he had dropped the laundry off with the intentions to fold it the next day. Pavlik said he left the restaurant, and didn't give the laundry a second thought until he heard the page for firefighters to respond to his business address.

"We were just getting ready to open again for the season," Pavlik said. "There was damage on the floor, but the firefighters did such a great job putting the fire out that the carpet wasn't even wet four feet away. If they'd responded 30 seconds later, I could have lost the whole building."

See more photos from the fire here.

Busy Autumn Season for SBLGFD
Sister Bay/Liberty Grove firefighters have been responding to community needs this autumn in many ways, from fire alarms, to responding to car accidents, to performing shoreline searches. The department's new custom-built equipment was put into service promptly in the course of these calls, and helped firefighters complete their duties efficiently.

We've posted an overview of some of 2005's calls on our Calls page, and also included links to our photo galleries if you are interested in viewing more pictures from selected incidents.

In terms of new equipment, SBLGFD took delivery on a new 4 wheel drive Bobcat which has special units that slide in/out of the Bobcat's rear bed. The Bobcat can then be used to fight wildland/brush fires (complete with hose and water tank) or another slide-out can be used to safely transport an injured person in a Stokes Basket. The Bobcat can be towed in its generator-equipped trailer to any location, and the slide-out units can be easily installed by just two firefighters. The Bobcat is an excellent resource for our area with all of the state and private wildlands & fields in our district. We'll be posting more pictures & details soon.

Fire Drill/Training at Scandia Village a Success
The fire alarms blared through the halls at the Scandia Village-Meadows retirement center in Sister Bay on Tuesday evening. About 120 seniors found their evening's plans detoured as firefighters helped seniors practice leaving the building as quickly as possible, so they are as well-prepared as possible in the event of a real emergency.

Representing departments from throughout northern and central Door County, about 40 firefighters assisted the residents from their rooms, down halls and stairways, and outside to "safety." Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Fire Department Chief Chris Hecht said this was the third fire drill that has been held at the Meadows in about 18 months. "This was the first time we had [all the residents] come outside." The last drill had the residents respond to the conference room for introductions and questions/answers. This time though, was more realistic.

"It went really, really well," continued Chief Hecht. He explained that although it took 15 minutes to get the entire building cleared, the majority of occupants were out within 5 minutes. The fire departments had also responded with stair chairs -- collapsable chairs with wheels on the back legs -- to assist seniors who needed help evacuating down the stairs. Stair chairs are a device commonly used on ambulances, and several firefighters are trained in their use as they are also EMTs/First Responders. "It took 5 minutes or less for 90% of the building to be cleared," according to Hecht.

The focus of Tuesday's exercise was evacuation, not fire fighting. Hecht explained that in the event of a real emergency, the northern Door Fire Departments would call and rely upon EMTs and First Responders from northern and mid-Door First Responder groups, as well as Emergency Services of Door County, to provide assistance in a true multi-faceted, multi-agency response. A full contingency plan is in place for the evacuation and ongoing care of residents in the event firefighters must address fighting a fire in addition to evacuating residents.