MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marines living in Barracks 314 learned first hand the importance of responding to a fire alarm Monday when flames engulfed a room on the second floor and filled the hallway with smoke shortly after 3 a.m.
The Station Fire Department responded to the fire alarm just two minutes after receiving it at 3:13 a.m. and managed to contain the blaze by 3:30 a.m., according to Fukii Takuya, Station deputy fire chief.
No injuries were reported, however, the room the fire originated in was destroyed and the second floor hallway and a number of other rooms received extensive smoke damage as a result.
According to Devin Johnston-Lee, Station fire chief, damage to the room and hallway was worsened due to the occupants' leaving the door open when they evacuated the room.
"The hallway wouldn't look anything like it does had this door been closed," said the 25-year firefighting veteran of the soot-covered walls and ceiling. "It not only allowed smoke to fill the hallway, but the air coming in through the doorway helped fuel the fire as well."
As the smoke poured down the hallway it carried with it the ingredients for another disaster, noted Johnston-Lee.
"The smoke is made up of super-heated fuels suspended in it," said Johnston-Lee. "It lingers in the air and under the right conditions can ignite causing what's called a flashover. A flashover is what kills firemen."
Smoke was the main opponent of those evacuating the building, noted roommates Pfc. Daniel Cohn, military policeman and Pfc. William Jarvis, recovery crewmember.
"I woke up to someone beating on the door and yelling for everyone to get out," said Jarvis. "I opened the door, saw the smoke, grabbed my roommate and we were out of there."
By the time Jarvis and Cohn started making their way out of the building the hallway was nearly filled with the black smoke, noted Cohn.
"It was totally black in the hallway and we live on the opposite end from where the fire was," said Cohn.
The fire was completely extinguished by 4 a.m. and the task of cleaning up and temporarily relocating Marines began immediately after.
"Officials from the Branch Medical Clinic tested for chemicals in the air and deemed the environment unlivable for anything over an eight-hour period right now," said Gunnery Sgt. John Idland, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron squadron gunnery sergeant. "We're relocating the Marines until we can complete the clean up."
Idland also said that beside the Fire Department, Sgt. Tion Watkins, duty noncommissioned officer-in-charge and Lance Cpl. Katherine Sequeira, assistant duty NCO of Barracks 314 at the time, could be credited with the evacuation of the building.
"They did an excellent job of passing the alarm and getting everyone out of the building," said Idland.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.