There is no rest for the weary, nor the hardworking, according to Barrhead Fire Chief John Whittaker.
The last weekend of February was a busy one for the Barrhead Fire Department, Whittaker said during a phone interview on Monday, Mar. 1, adding his department received two late-night calls in locations that had some numbers in common.
“My weekend was extremely busy,” he said, adding there had been scheduled training in-between the two late night calls that the department handled over the weekend.
“On Feb. 26 we responded to a call at 565-11 on Range Road 20, at just after 10 p.m.,” he said.
“It turned out to be a structure fire involving a trailer and an addition, but it had been burning for roughly an hour, an hour and a half, before we got on scene. By the time we got there it was pretty much a hole in the ground and we fought that fire until 2 a.m.”
Whittaker said due to the length of the burn and the level of devastation, determination of the cause was difficult.
“Officially, the cause is undetermined.”
On February 27, Whittaker said, the fire department received another structural fire call, this time located at 585-11 on Range Road 40.
“The cause of this one was electrical,” Whittaker said, adding members were on scene by 6:42 p.m. and that the fire was caused by shorting in a light fixture where work was being done in the house.
“Members cleared the scene from the second call by 10:30 p.m., and no one was hurt which is always a good thing,” he added.
