7/30/11 - Flint double house fire, 400 block of Gillespie

While traveling south on I-75 north of Flint, we followed a large plume of black smoke into town a little after 5 PM on Saturday, July 30, 2011. A few minutes later we arrived to find a vacant two story home fully involved with extension to a second home in the 400 block of Gillespie Ave near Buick St in Flint's north side. The Flint Fire Department had a full first alarm assignment on scene of 2 engines, 2 squads and a truck. The original structure was involved to the point that they had decided to let the vacant house go while protecting exposures. An unmanned water curtain was set up to protect the uninvolved exposure on the "B" side. Firefighters made an interior attack to control the fire in the involved home on the "D" side. Several firefighters were evaluated by the FFD Echo Unit for heat related injuries and a 3rd engine company was requested to the scene. Genesee County EMS transported one firefighter and an additional ambulance was requested to respond from MMR. This turned out to be just one of a rash of fires that afflicted the Flint Fire Department this evening.