Richmond Fire & EMS Lt. Robbie Hagaman said the fire was reported just before 3 a.m. by a Richmond police officer who noticed smoke coming from a two-story house in the 500 block of North 31st Street.

2218 M ST STRUCTURE FIRE, HOUSE FIRE 11:14 PM POWER WENT OUT…SMOKE COMING FROM THE HOUSE…UPSTAIRS BEDROOM…POSSIBLY ELECTRICAL RELATED

[...] whose purpose is to try and inform the citizens of Richmond about issues going on in the fire dept. that they may be interested in. Such as tax dollars being spent on unecessary equipment, how the deptartment operates under the current administration, hiring and promoting practices,etc. This site is not out to bash anyone but to provide you with the facts that you may not hear about otherwise. In order for us firefighters to stay safe and get the proper tools and equipment we need to operate, we must have your support.

At 10:18 p.m. Saturday, fire crews were dispatched to the 2800 block of Fairfield Avenue. They found smoke coming from the second floor of the apartment building. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the room where it started.

Another interesting map found on the city’s site:

This map contains the Fire District and Fire Marshal district areas.

There were no injuries in a house fire in Richmond’s East End this morning. The fire was reported shortly after 5 a.m. in the 900 block of North 27th Street, near the O Street intersection.

A vacant house on the 1600 block of 28th Street caught fire this morning. The fire began at the back of the house and spread through the boarded up structure. Damage was minimal and there were no injuries.

The RTD is calling last night’s fire at the church-owned Citadel of Hope suspicious:

Authorities are investigating the cause of a two-alarm fire that caused heavy damage to a vacant, boarded-up structure in Richmond’s East End.

“I would consider it suspicious,” Richmond fire Capt. William M. Martin said this morning after the fire at 2230 Venable St. was brought under control.

Richmond firefighters rushed to the 900 block of North 38th Street around 6:00 p.m. Friday. They say someone was frying fish in the garage when the structure caught fire.

912 N 21ST ST RICH / CrossStreet: CARRINGTON ST FIRE, HOUSE / STRUCTURE On Scene 8:08 PM HOUSE ON FIRE IN THE SAME BLOCK OF 22AND AND VENABLE…COMPL NOT SURE IF ANYONE IS INSIDE

Photo above by John Sydnor, below by robertelves

Authorities said the fire was reported at 10:37 p.m. in the 1400 block of North 19th Street. It took about 20 minutes to bring the fire under control.

John sent in a photo of fire trucks at 25th and Clay this morning. Anybody know what happened?

Richmond Fire & EMS Lt. Shawn L. Jones said the fire was reported at 2:44 a.m. in the 1500 block of Spotsylvania Street, just north of Mosby Middle School Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. [...] The lone occupant of the house, who was not home at the time of the fire, was being assisted by the Greater Richmond Chapter of the American Red Cross in finding temporary housing.

Units in the 1800 blk of Peter Paul Blvd with a working fire. One person dead.

But it was heartbreaking for her and her daughters (who stood and watched, wrapped in blankets) to see what happened to their home and belongings.

“Somebody had just brought us Christmas gifts today,” Buskey said. “And they were in that house. I have ten cents to my name, and nothing now. But you know what? God is good – my children are alive.

It’s our first winter up here on the Hill and we are using our fireplaces a lot already. We have one recommendation from a neighbor for a wood source and our first load was good. Still, I’d like to have two or three options, just in case. Any suggestions?

“All right here was just like red lines and smoke coming out this side and coming out this side,” Martin said.

The driver’s seat is burned down to just mostly the frame. The door and steering wheel are melted. The sight of his only form of transportation up in flames was almost too much for him to handle.

No one was injured in this early morning house fire on the 1100 block of 23rd Street.

The playground at near-by George Mason Elementary School was burned on June 2, 2009. The cost of replacement of the playground was generously picked up by W.E. Singleton.

Virginia Fire News has info on a small fire on 21st Street that displaced 3 people:

On June 3, at 0726 hours Richmond Fire was called to the 1800 block of North 21st Street for a reported house fire. Rescue 1 arrived on scene just ahead of Q-11 reporting a 2-story wood frame house with smoke showing on from the D side on Division 2 [...] No one was home at the time of the fire. The fire was brought under control at 0738 hours. The fire is under investigation at this time. The Red Cross is assisting the family of 3 with accommodations.

A house on Carrington Street caught on fire this morning:

Firefighters were summoned at 9:16 a.m. to the 2400 block of Carrington Street near North 24th Street and found smoke rising from a two-story house, said Richmond fire Lt. Shawn L. Jones. [...] Fire officials attributed the cause of the blaze to a cooking accident.

The empty and for sale house at 516 North 33rd Street burned fairly thoroughly late last night. This morning there were still sounds of pieces of the house falling, and the interior from front to back appears to be destroyed. No word on the cause.

Hi – I’m wondering if you could put up a post to put out feelers for a 4 bedroom house for rent in Church Hill. I’m looking for the family whose house was burned down on Q Street this week. We would need a month to month lease until their house is finished being rebuilt (appx 4-5 months). The family has lived in their home since the 1950′s and we’re trying to find something ASAP to get them out of a hotel. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated!!

Contact Georgi Fisher atgeorgifisher@gmail.com or (804)852-8319 if you know of anything.

A house fire this afternoon at 3116 Q Street left the house in bad shape but “everyone got out and is ok“.

The 1922 bungalow at 1807 T Street caught on fire this rainy evening just after 7PM. Neighborhood bystanders reported the house as vacant, but also said that “a woman stays there” and that “drug addicts go in and out”.

The city shows the house as selling for $8,000 in 1957 and then again for $0 in 2005. The 2005 sale was from Beverly King to the current owners: Karl, Arthur, Larry, and Wayne King. None of them show as owning any other property in the city. The house shows up for sale on several local real estate sites and possibly as under contract.

At least 19 people suffered minor injuries in a Richmond apartment fire in the 1300 block of Coalter Street Wednesday. Fire officials arrived on scene just after 8:30 a.m. with heavy flames showing from a basement apartment building.

A reader reports a fire at 1211 North 26th Street:

Was on my way home at about 11:30 and noticed a huge smoke plume a block behind the M and 25th Street roundabout. A freestanding house on 26th, the 1200 block was in a full blaze. It was abandoned and boarded up. The neighbors were watching, but clearly unfazed.

Real Time Traffic Info is saying that there is a fire on 26th Street and that:

MALE NAME DAVID SAY HE SET THE FIRE…HE IS TRYING TO KILL HIM SELF SAND HUNG UP THE FIRE IS NEAR THE MOUNT OLIVETT

Since the beginning of the 2009 – 2010 fiscal year, the Richmond Fire Department budget has experienced cuts that directly impact the amount of fire protection available on a daily basis to the City of Richmond. This blog is to serve as a place where information can be found regarding where daily cuts are occurring.

This situation was addressed at the last 7th District meeting on September 27th by Fire Chief Creecy.

From the email:

It was suggested that they are counting “Rescue” personnel manning the Fire Houses as Firemen or counting them as manning the station -although they are not really firefighters.  To cover the fire fighting needs other, more distant stations are broadening their coverage areas and thus probably increasing response times in cases of emergency or fires in the immediate area of the reduced coverage stations.  [...] the stations coverage has been reduced up to one-third from previous coverage in terms of personnel and hours available to respond to emergencies.

The fire occurred about 10:40 a.m. in a second-floor unit at a two-story apartment building in the 1900 block of Redd Street, near the Accommodation Street intersection.

A boarded&vacant house on Venable Street just west of the Ocean Grocery caught fire at around 11PM last night. Judging from the path in the backyard, someone had been occupying or using the back of the house for some time.

Thanks to Erika for last night’s action photos :)

A house gone feral in a small patch of woods just west of the train tracks in Shockoe Valley is burning dramatically this afternoon. Firefighters are having something of a difficult time just getting to the burning structure.

A house on the 1300 block of 26th Street burned rather severely last night. No word on the inhabitants or cause.

wtvr has details on an overnight fire that destroyed the playground at George Mason Elementary:

Fire crews were called to the school at 3:30 this morning. [...] When Richmond fire crews got to the school they saw flames shooting 30 feet into the air. The fire melted most of plastic playground equipment.

The house at 1510 23rd Street burned dramatically this evening. No word on cause or possible inhabitants.

Firefighters were evacuating the nearby houses, while the house next door was already taking damage.

The 900 block of 25th Street is blocked off as firefighters work to extinguish the flames at a bungalow across the street from the former Sunny Market.

The RTD is reporting a serious fire at the Acme Grocery at Venable and Mosby Streets this morning:

Thirty firefighters were trying to bring the fire under control at 8 a.m., nearly an hour after it was reported at Acme Grocery. A passerby called Richmond authorities about 7:10 a.m. to say there were flames coming from the store, which is located at Venable and Mosby streets on a block of row houses.

UPDATE: Check out photos of the fire from across the street!

The unoccupied rental office of the Jefferson Town Homes (1900 block of Venable Street) burned just after 4AM this morning.

Word from the code enforcement folks is that the corner store at 24th and Fairmount, vacant since burning almost 18 months ago, will likely have a demolition permit in place by the end of the month.

There was a house fire at 2802 East Clay Street just after 3PM this afternoon. It was reported that the firefighters had to break the door down next door to get in to the burning house. Witnesses report that a dog was rescued and a cat is still missing.

Missie Dog has some photos of all of the excitement:

Firefighters responded to reports of a car entirely engulfed in flames at 2325 Phaup Street in Fairfield Court just after 7AM this morning. Neighbors describe hearing 2 small explosions just prior to the burning.

Fireman are working to control a house fire at 22nd and Cedar Streets. No word on what started the fire or the fate of the residents.

Photo above from 11/2003.

The half of a duplex at 1216 North 30th Street was heavily damaged by an overnight fire. All of the residents are reported to have escaped uninjured.

A fire ripped through a set of frame row houses in the 1100 block of 24th Street today at around 11AM. Four residents got out safely. There is no mention of what started the fire. [via]

Fire this afternoon at 2312 T Street; no word the cause or the residents.