Burnt Food Sounds Several Holiday Fire Alarms

The  responded to the following incidents during the week of Dec. 19-25:

Dec. 19

• Edina Fire was requested for mutual aid at the scene of an apartment fire in the 800 block of Smetana Road in Hopkins. Firefighters assisted the Hopkins Fire Department.
• Paramedic firefighters performed emergency medical service in 14 incidents.

Dec. 20

• Firefighters responded to a fire alarm at a home in the 4700 block of Golf Terrace. No one was home when the fire department arrived, but there was light smoke visible inside the house. Firefighters forced entry and found the stove left on with a pan of burnt food that was left unattended, causing the smoke. Firefighters ventilated and turned the home over to the key holder who had arrived.
• There were 11 EMS responses.

Dec. 21

• 10 EMS calls.
• A resident in the 5800 block of West 68th Street called, reporting that two of his carbon monoxide detectors were alarming. Firefighters investigated, finding the detectors were not digital readout styles and the highest level could not be determined. Firefighters used the fire department’s gas monitors and measured low levels of carbon monoxide in the utility room of the basement where the furnace, water heater and gas dryer were. There was no CO measured or detected on the main floor. The gas company was called and was responding. The homeowner was advised to stay in a ventilated area until the gas company could investigate further. 

Dec. 22

• 13 EMS incidents.
• Two people were stuck in a malfunctioning elevator in the 5400 block of West 70th Street. Firefighters were able to open the doors to allow them out. The elevator was placed “out of service” and the elevator company contacted for repair. 
• Firefighters gave assistance to a homeowner with a house with smoke backing up from a fireplace flue that was not opened. 
• A reported smell of smoke was investigated in the 4900 block of Viking Drive. Firefighters found construction workers in the basement using a saw that was generating a burning smell. 
• A false fire alarm was investigated. 

Dec. 23

• Edina fire crews were requested to provide mutual aid assistance at a house fire in the 3000 block of Ottawa Avenue South in St. Louis Park. 
• 13 EMS responses.
• Firefighters investigated a fire alarm malfunction. 

Dec. 24

• 11 EMS incidents.
• Medical care was refused at the site of a vehicle crash in the 7500 block of France Avenue. 
• A carbon monoxide alarm was investigated in the 4600 block of Casco Avenue. The homeowner explained that he had run the car in an attached garage prior to the alarm, noting the detector sounds often when he does that. Low levels of carbon monoxide were measured and could be explained by the car running in the attached garage. 

Dec. 25

• Three EMS responses.
• A vehicle crash with injuries on Hwy. 62 near Hwy. 169 required an ambulance and paramedics.
• Three false fire alarms were investigated. One was caused by a malfunctioning roaster oven and two from burnt food.