Roof Foreman and Supervisor Stop Fire at Jobsite

By Evelyn Witterholt.  

After a large pile of scrap material caught on fire at their jobsite, these roofers took action to put the fire out. 

While working on a jobsite, one of the last things Brandon Fitch ever expected to have to do was put out a fire. Brandon, a foreman for Weatherproofing Technologies Incorporated (WTI), was working on a site in Ohio when he and Ernie Brewer, a field resource supervisor, noticed a large fire. The two were quick on their feet to put the fire out successfully before the fire department could arrive. 

Brandon and Ernie had first noticed the smoke coming from the fire while working in the area with a company called Thrive. While working on the soil, they had noticed a large cloud of black smoke coming from the parking structure nearby. Initially, they had believed it to be a car smoking or a barbecue. Upon inspecting closer, they discovered it was a large fire caused by a lit cigarette. 

“It was actually just a bunch of scrap material left on a big pallet that was at a finished job site,” Brandon said. “It was a pallet that had a bunch of trash, a bunch of used material on it that did catch on fire.” 

Brandon worked as a volunteer firefighter for a few years when he lived in North Carolina. He told us that he used his firefighting experience to help put the fire out before the fire department showed up.  

“We pulled out our 10 pounder (fire extinguisher) that we had in our truck. I put it onto the fire, did a sweeping motion on it,” he said. “It took 30 pounds of fire extinguisher to finally get it put out.”  

The fire was about five feet away from the brick façade of the building. Brandon believes if it hadn’t been put out, it could have caused a lot more damage.