News

At 4:37pm on Sunday, August 22, 2021, the Ocean Pines Vol. Fire Department was alerted for a residential structure fire at 20 Hickory Way.  Worcester Central advised that the homeowner stated their garage was on fire. Additional responses were requested from the Berlin, Bishopville, Ocean City, and Showell Fire Departments.

Chief Grunewald was first on scene, established command, and advised smoke showing from the residence. The crew from Engine 1102 stretched an attack line into the residence through the front door of the split level residence and was able to put a knock on the fire as the crew from Engine 1101 established a water supply. 

Chief Grunewald requested Station 88 from Selbyville to standby at Ocean Pines South Station to provide coverage for any calls on the north end of the county while crews completed overhaul.

The scene was turned over to the Worcester County Fire Marshal's Office for further investigation.

In this particular incident, there were two primary factors that contributed to this being confined to the garage.

1. The residents were home and quickly called 911 when they became aware of the fire.

2. It was discovered during overhaul that a water pipe in the garage, in the area of where the fire originated, had burst and acted as makeshift sprinkler which helped keep the fire in check until the fire department arrived. 

To learn more about the benefits of home sprinkler systems, please check out the NFPA Fire Sprinkler Initiative.

The OPVFD would like to thank all of our neighboring departments who assisted us today on scene as well as covered our stations during the incident.

Units on Scene: Ocean Pines Engine 1101, 1102, Tower 11, Command 11 & 11-1, 1100 A2, FP 11 as well as apparatus from Berlin, Showell, and Bishopville Fire Departments, Ocean Pines Police Department, the Worcester County Fire Marshal's Office.