4/7/08 - Rives-Tompkins Twp swamp fire, 10215 Easton

Monday, April 7, 2008, while firefighters were still extinguishing hot spots at another fire in a wooded area, this fire mysteriously started behind an unoccupied house on Easton Rd which had not had any open fires of any kind for several days. The wind driven fire started at the edge of some tall swamp grass and was quickly feeding into the swamp. A grass rig from Rives-Tompkins Twp Fire Department and an engine from Leslie Fire Department were the first to clear other assignments and arrive on this scene. While Rives hit what they could from their truck which could not travel into the swamp, Leslie used the deck gun on their engine to perform a blitz attack to knock down a large portion of the fire. Firefighters then had to enter by foot into the swamp, which was still frozen in some places, to finish extinguishing areas that could not be reached from the homeowner's yard. Quick thinking and a fast response by these two departments kept this from becoming a major wildland fire and resulted in a quick knock down.