~ Serving Downingtown and East Caln Since 1887 ~

All are invited to attend our Annual Chicken Bar-B-Que Dinner Fund Raiser on Saturday, August 21, 2010.  Starting at 4:00 PM till 7:00 PM. Take-Out or Eat-In dinning is available.

The dinner includes a hearty half of chicken, a baked potato, corn on the cob, apple sauce, dinner roll, a drink and a dessert.  It always good to get there early since we have sold-out for the last few years!

The Alert volunteers participated in the 100th. Anniversary, Rescue Truck Housing and Building Dedication Parade of the Temple Fire Co. today.  As the crews traveled with Brush, Engine and Rescue 45 through heavy rain as they approached Temple, the day turned-out to be good one with the rain stopping just as the parade was starting at 1:00 PM.

For the second parade in a row of the the year, all of the preparation and hard work paid-off again, as the volunteers were awarded the following prizes:

• Best Appearing and Equipped Pumper - First Place ~ Engine 45
• Best Appearing and Equipped Heavy Rescue - First Place ~ Rescue 45
• Best Appearing Apparatus on a Spartan Chassis ~ Engine 45

Congratulations to the Temple Fire Co. for their 100 years of service and good luck with your new rescue truck and building.

And, THANK YOU to the CLIFTON HEIGHTS FIRE CO. for assisting on Saturday!

The Alert Fire Co. No. 1 was very active, once again in Kerr Park and at the firehouse during the Annual Downingtown Good Neighbor Day ~ Fourth of July Celebration, today. 

Rescue 45 was on display and worked as the Command Post from 7:00 AM until the end of the event at 11:45 PM.  Also starting at 7:00 AM, crews manned a water station in front of our firehouse for the annual Run-For-Life and a team in Squad 45 provided first  aid at Manor and Downing Ave's. 

In addition, our volunteers provided emergency and fire crews throughout the day and night, during all of the events with a vehicle rescue demonstration in the middle of the afternoon.  The day ended with the annual fireworks show.

We hope that you enjoyed and had happy and safe Fourth of July!
 

A violent mid-afternoon thunderstorm raced through Chester County leaving destruction in its path.  With horizontal straight-line winds of up to 70 to 75 MPH and heavy rain, many fire and rescue companies in Chester and Delaware Counties were kept busy responding to emergencies for several hours.

As a result of this storm, the first call for the Alert volunteers was for Rescue 45 to respond to assist Station 49 (East Brandywine Fire Co.) on Rt. 282  near Dorlans Mill Rd. for tree down on a car, with two people trapped inside.  The rescue crew found it difficult responding to the scene due to the many trees and wires down on the roadways.  The rescue team along with the crew from Engine 49 stabilized both the car and the tree, then removed the doors of the car so that the victims could be extricated from the car and taken to a hospital.

The Alerts, in addition to the rescue call, respond to several automatic alarms, a reported house fire and calls for trees and wires that feel onto houses.

Photo's are courtesy of coatesvillefire.org and ebfc49.org

Karl Stevens was our latest volunteer member to graduate from the Chester County Fire Training Academy, this evening.  Karl was one of 33 members of the Spring 2010 graduating class to be certified as Firefighter I by the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy in addition to the National "Pro-Board" Firefighter I certification program.

In all, there where 13 volunteers from the Downingtown Fire Dept. who graduated this evening from Firefighter I and II, Instructor I and Pumper Driver/Operator.  The graduation ceremony was hosted at the Wagontown Fire Co., in their Social Hall.

Eleven volunteers attended the 90th. Annual Lancaster County Firemen's Assoc. Convention Parade in Bareville with Squad, Brush, Engine and Rescue 45.  The convention was hosted jointly by the Bareville and Upper Leacock Fire Companies, in honor of their 100th. Anniversaries.

The team spent many long hours working on all of the tools, equipment and trucks for the past two weeks, getting ready for the parade.  And, all of the hard work paid-off as the volunteers won the following awards:

• Squad 45 ~ Best Appearing and Equipped Special Services Unit - 3rd. Place
• Engine 45 ~ Best Appearing and Equipped Pumper, 1990-1999 - 2nd. Place
• Rescue 45 ~ Best Appearing and Equipped Rescue - 1st. Place
• Best Appearing Fire Company Outside of Lancaster County - 1st. Place
• Special Judges Award ~ Best Appearing Overall Fire Company in Uniform.

Many thanks to the host companies for doing a great job with the event and especially to the Alert Team who did another outstanding job.

Additional Alert volunteers were certified in the Emergency Boat Operations and Rescue Training Course this weekend.  The course was hosted by the Kennett Fire Co.  The training was instructed by WhiteCap Water Rescue Training (www.whitecaprescue.com) staff instructors Todd Stahl, Scott Davis and Greg Miller. In addition Alert, he following companies participated in the training;  Kennett Fire Co., Fame Fire Co. No. 3 of West Chester and the Media Fire Co. of Delaware County.



The Emergency Boat Operation and Rescue included both classroom and practical hands-on training in boat selection, recommended equipment, boat-handling, moving-water tactics, and boat-rescue techniques.  This course meets NFPA 1670 Technician Level Guidelines. 

 

The above Fire/Rescue companies continue to train as a team as they move forward with forming the Chester County Rescue Task Force.

 

All photo's are courtesy of Todd Stahl of WhiteCap.

Engine 45 was asked to stand-by at the Mont Clare Fire Co. (Montgomery County Station 55) during their 100th. Anniversary Banquet Celebration.  During the stand-by the crew of ten from Engine 45 (Lt. Stevens) and Squad 45 (Lt. Panetti) enjoyed a great dinner at the Fitzwater Inn, compliments of the MCFC.

With an hour remaining in our shift, without any calls, the team was dispatched at 10:55 PM for a tree down on vehicles in the area of Lock 60, between the Schuylkill River and Canal.  EMS was already on location and in the process transporting several people from two families to a local hospital to be check-out for injuries.

Two families were fishing on the bank of the river, when suddenly a large tree fell across two pick up trucks where the people were sitting on the tail gate.  The crews from the Engine and Squad assisted with the removal of the tree and saving the the lunker-catfish in the cooler!

Photo's are courtesy of Mark Freeman.

Shortly after 1:00 AM the DFD was dispatched for an automatic fire alarm in the 200 block of Boot Rd., in the Trestle Bridge Business Park.  Asst. Chief 46 (S. Miller) arrived first to find smoke showing from the area of the roof and upgraded the assignment to a building fire.

Tower 45 (Capt. Keen) arrived shortly after Asst Chief 46 and set-up the tower in the front of the building and the crew went to the roof to investigate where the smoke was coming from.  The crew from Engine 46-1 (Lt. Kowalcyzk), Minquas Fire Co. No. 2, advanced an attack line into the front of the building and found and industrial size clothes dryer well involved in fire with a moderate smoke condition throughout the building.  The dryer was located in the middle of the warehouse area.  The remainder of the crew from Tower 45, Engine 45 and Engine 46-2 assisted with ventilation of the large commercial building.

Photo's are courtesy of Minquas Fire Co. No. 2

This weekend, volunteers from the Alert rescue team attended the First Annual Chester County Technical Rescue Training Weekend at the West Chester Fire Training Center.  The courses offered for the weekend were  Water Rescue for the Emergency Responder, Trench Rescue I and Special Vehicle Rescue.

The Water Rescue section was instructed by WhiteCap Water Rescue Training (www.whitecaprescue.com), with 22 students that attended.  This 16 hour course included many valuable swift water rescue techniques such as planning, reviewing equipment, self-rescue and shore-based rescue.  The Instructors from WhiteCap were Todd Stahl, Alex Myers, Greg Miller and Sean McCausland.

The Special Vehicle Rescue was taught by EJR's Rescue Techs (www.rescuetechs.com) with 20 students in attendance.  This 16 hour course covered many different aspects of heavy equipment and truck rescue operations.  The instructors from Rescue Techs were Eric Rickenbach and Dave Gribble.

And, the Trench Rescue I course was taught by Martin Hannon and Todd Smith of the Bucks County Community College and Philadelphia Fire Dept.  This was a 16 hour course, as well and the students learned and practiced new techniques in the safe rescue operations in supporting the trench walls and the removal of victims.

The rescue companies that attended the weekend training were Alert, Fame No. 3 of West Chester, Kennett, Lionville, Longwood, Thorndale, Wagontown, West Bradford, West Whiteland and several Chester County Fire Training Instructors.

We would like to thank The Firestore and Belfour for providing lunch for all of the students during the weekend  and the Fame Fire Co. No. 3 for coordinating the training weekend.

Engine 45 and a crew of six volunteers were invited to attend the Annual Beaver Bash Spring Fair at the Beaver Creek Elementary School on W. Pennsylvania Ave.  The theme of the school fair, this year was "Teamwork". 

The crew explained to the kids the importance of working as a team when being a firefighter.  They also gave tours of the apparatus and the equipment, in addition to handing-out fire prevention literature.

The DFD was honored to participate in the "World Trade Center Trees Coming Home to Coatesville" event this afternoon.  Tower 45 was invited to form a memorial arch with Ladder 43 (Coatesville Fire Dept.) on South First Ave. at the entrance of the Graystone Society memorial event.

There were 17 DFD volunteers that witnessed and participated in the day-long event with the addition of several other Chester, Lancaster and Montgomery County fire companies.

In 1969, the Lukens Steel Company provided the structural steel for the World Trade Center North and South Towers.  The steel that Lukens supplied was the strongest portion of the buildings, as it provided support of the first nine floors.  The steel was shipped from the Coatesville facility to New York City by train for the construction of the towers when it was completed.

Forty-one years later twenty-eight flatbed tractor trailers from Landstar Trucking of Jacksonville, FL made the journey from the JFK Airport in New York City to Coatesville with a police escort.  The tractor trailers returned 500 tons of steel consisting of ten 50 ton sections of steel beams called "trees".  These beams were called trees due to their unique tree shape form.  The trees were donated to the Graystone Society by the Port Authority of New York.

The steel will be displayed in the upcoming National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum that will be built in the Lukens Historic District on South First Ave. in Coatesville. 

Editors Note:  Please click on the Daily Local News Link below to see a conversation with Mr. Tim Philman and some of the DFD volunteers after the arrival of the steel.  Mr. Philman was the driver of the second truck in the convoy and he stopped-by Tower 45 to get a photo of the arch and the firefighters.  Then this conversation took place.

The  fifteen volunteers of the DFD completed the last eight hours of the "Emergency Boat Operations and Rescue" training on the Susquehanna River, between the Rt. 30 and Rt. 462 Bridges in Wrightsville, York County.

The team departed Downingtown at 6:30 AM for the practical session in the swift water of the Susquehanna and the students learned boat-handling techniques, moving-water tactics and several different boat-rescue techniques. This course meets NFPA 1670 technician level guidelines and was taught by Todd Stahl and Scott Davis of WhiteCap Water Rescue (www.whitecaprescue.com).  The team members are now certified as Water Rescue/Boat Rescue Technicians.

We would like to thank the Kimberton Fire Co. for allowing us to borrow their dry suits, the West Bradford Fire Co. for using their outboard motor and Blake Quinn and Lou Bullaro for the use of their boats.

Fifteen volunteers of the DFD started part four of our four-part Water and Emergency Boating training on Saturday.  The first eight hours of the "Emergency Boat Operations and Rescue" was a classroom session with the written Technician test and was taught by WhiteCap Water Rescue.

Due to the importance of the students to be participating in the entire session, we asked Gap Fire Co. Truck 4-2, Bart Twp. Fire Co. Rescue Engine 5-1-1 and Quarryville Fire Co. Engine 5-7-4 (all from Lancaster County) to stand-by for the DFD on Saturday.  During the stand-by, our Lanco brothers responded to two automatic fire alarms for burnt food and an auto accident.  We would like thank them again for the service they provided to our community.

After our training was completed, at 7:00 PM, Rescue 38 (Thorndale Fire Co.), Rescue 45 and Ambulance/Medic 46 (Minquas Fire Co. No. 2) were dispatched for a serious auto accident on the Rt. 30 By-Pass behind the Downingtown Middle School.  The crews found a Mustang on its roof, between two chain link fences next to the baseball field.  It was determine that the driver was not trapped, however he was air-lifted to a trauma center for his injuries.

Twenty members from Alert and the Minquas Fire Co. No. 2, in addition a few members of the Kennett Fire Co., Edgmont Fire Co. (Delco) and Robert Fulton Fire Co. (Lanco) participated in the 18 hour, third portion of our DFD four part water rescue training events. 

This third course was Water Rescue and Emergency Operations Response.  The volunteers had a classroom session on Saturday and learned such things as planning, medical considerations and a review of the equipment.  On Sunday, the students started at 7:30 AM at the indoor swimming pool at  Immaculata University learning self-rescue rescue techniques and swimming skills.  In the afternoon, the students arrived at Millers Automotive in Downingtown where they entered the Brandywine Creek to learn and practice new operations in shore-based rescue techniques.

The course was taught by Todd Stahl, Greg Miller, Scott Davis, Alex Myers and Sean McCausland  of WhiteCap Water Rescue Training ( www.whitecaprescue.com ).  Part four of the courses, Emergency Boating Operations and Rescue, will take place on April 10/11, 2010.  Upon completion of all of the water rescue courses, the volunteers will be certified in Emergency Water Rescue Emergencies.

We would also like to thank the Fame Fire Co. No. 3 of West Chester, Kimberton Fire Co. and the Mont Clare Fire Co. (Montco) for allowing us to borrow Dry Suits so that all of the students were out-fitted properly.  The West Bradford Fire Co. for standing-by all day Sunday for the Borough while we attended the training.  And, Immaculata University for the use of the indoor swimming pool.

Photo's are courtesy of Mike Lam and Todd Stahl.