Friday March 19th looked to be just another day for some members of the Integrated sales team- checking up on current customers and making visits to some potential new ones.
While at the front of the property and examining the vault, Shawn McMichen noticed some thick, black smoke billowing up from one of the buildings in the apartment community. After readjusting their perspective, Clinton Reed could tell this was a substantial fire. The maintenance technician for the complex started running towards the fire as Clinton and Shawn jumped in their truck to the scene.
By the time they arrived, flames were reaching up the sides of the building. The smoke was intense and had engulfed the breezeway. Knowing that in the breezeway were fire extinguishers, Clinton ran through the smoke into the breezeway, broke the glass, pulled out the fire extinguisher and ran back coming back through the near flames and black smoke. After pulling the pin and discharging the extinguisher, Clinton noticed he’d been joined by the maintenance technician with another extinguisher. Together the 3 put out the entire fire by sweeping the dry chemical away from the apartments and finally completely extinguishing it in the grass.
Further examination revealed a simple black and mild had been the culprit. Not soon after the fire department showed up to a surprising scene. The fire was out, the building was saved, and potential lives spared. The fire department confirmed these men did a “wonderful job” and confirmed that because they were able to extinguish the fire soon enough and the insulation did not ignite- this literally saved the building! All that was left for them to do was spray some water mist to wet the ground to prevent any flare ups.
Although the landscaping was torched and the vinyl siding melted, it was a small price to pay. The management company was ecstatic to say the least.
When asked about their quick thinking, Clinton Reed affirmed that “we were in the right place at the right time, and had the training, and experience needed to act fast in an emergency situation such as this.”