~ Serving Downingtown and East Caln Since 1887 ~

A few members of the DFD took advantage of the unseasonably warm January temperatures and launched our newly acquired Rescue One boat into the Schuylkill River in Phoenixville.  The DFD recently purchased this boat with the help from East Caln Twp. from the Cornwells Fire Co. in Bucks Co. 

Our new boat is a 16' aluminum flat bottom "John Type" boat with a 40 hp Mercury jet drive motor.  The boat is especially made for the emergency services to be used in swift water and flood conditions.

The members are currently participating in a 80 hour training program to be nationally certified in Emergency Water/Ice Rescue and Emergency Boat Operations.

The morning started with a malfunctioning CO detector in the Main Street Village Development, then a response to minor auto accident at West Lancaster and Downing Ave's in the middle of the afternoon.

At 7:15 PM, Ambulance/Medic 46-1 (Minquas Fire Co. No. 2) were returning to the Borough from the hospital and saw flames emanating from a roof in the 300 block of Brandywine Ave.  The EMS crew radioed the information to the dispatcher and quickly alerted the residents to evacuate the house.

Chief 46 (M. Miller) arrived on location and confirmed the report of the three story single family house with a fire on the roof between the chimney and window dormer.  Tower 45 (Capt. Keen) elevated the tower to the roof as Engine 46-1 laid a 300', 5" supply line to the scene.  The Engine 46-1 deployed an attack line to the third story attic.  Engine 45 (Lt. Stevens) stopped at the fire hydrant and the crew went to the attic and second floor and located the fire in the wall and ceiling as they were pulling them.

The crew from Squad 45 assisted with laddering all four sides of the house.  And, the crew from Engine 46-2 deployed a back-up line.  A quick knock-down and overhaul by all of the teams on location contained the fire to window dormer area.

Engine 38 (Thorndale Fire Co.), Engine 39-2 (West Bradford) and Ladder 49 (East Brandywine Fire Co.) relocated to the Borough during this alarm.

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

The following Active Force Members were the Top Ten Responders during 2009:

1)  Tom Lee - 313                            6)  Brett Wesson - 188

2)  Vince Panetti - 287                     7)  Rich Cardelli - 166

3)  Phil Moore - 281                         8)  Tony Bensinger - 161 

4)  Jeff Stevens - 274                       9)  Gregg Nelms - 157

5)  Karl Stevens - 206                      10)  Joe Marks - 156              

Congratulations and Good Luck to the members who were elected as the 2010 Executive Board and Active Force Officers of the company:

President – Pat Butler

Vice President – Vince Panetti

Secretary – Christine Lam

Treasurer – Donna Abel

Financial Secretary – Susan Schoellkopf

Trustee (3 Years) – Mike Fetterman

 

Deputy Chief – Gregg Nelms

Captain – Chris Keen

Lieutenant A – Jeff Stevens

Lieutenant B - Joe Marks

Lieutenant C - Vince Panetti

Engine 45 was dispatched at 4:17 AM as the second-due engine company to assist Station 49 (East Brandywine Fire Co.), in addition to Engines 46-1 and 46-2 (Minquas Fire Co. No. 2) to a house fire on the 900 block of Hopewell Rd. in East Brandywine Twp.

Chief 49 (Conlan) arrived on location with fire showing from an outside wall in the area of the roof of a single family dwelling and requested a "Working Fire Dispatch" which added Air/Light 46, Ambulance 46-1, Engine 47-5 and Rescue 47 (Lionville Fire Co.), Engine 48-5 and Rescue 48 (Glen Moore Fire Co.).

The crew from Ladder 49 and Engine 49 deployed an 1.75" attack hose line into the front door of the house.  Engine 45 arrived just behind Engine 49 and was directed to go to the roof and ventilate.  The Engine 45 crew split into two teams with the first team putting up ground ladders and the other going to the roof to ventilate.  The crews from Engines 46-1 and 46-2 pulled back-up lines and assisted the the Station 49 crews inside with a quick knock-down of the fire.  The Engine 45 teams then assisted with the overhaul operations.  All companies returned to station just after 6:30 AM.

At 4:09 AM the DFD was dispatched for a possible house fire in the 200 block of Mary St. in the West Ward of the Borough.  The Downingtown Police arrived shortly after the dispatch and advised that they had fire showing from the rear of the two and a half story Half of Double (twin) house with possible people trapped inside of the house.  Assistant Chief 46 (S. Miller) immediately requested the DFD General Alarm (both stations for full company responses) with Engine and Rescue 38 (Thorndale Fire Co.) for the Rapid Intervention Team to be dispatched.

Assistant 46 arrived on location and assumed Incident Command, while Deputy 45 (Nelms) arrived and assumed Operations, with Chief 46 (M. Miller) assuming Side C and D Command.  Engine 46-1 (Capt. T. Swisher) laid a 5" supply line from a hydrant at the corner of William St. and Whelen Ave. with their crew deploying a 1.75" attack line to the front door of the house.  During this time, the info that the Chief's were getting was that victims were on the upper floors while Engineer T. Lee, Jr strategically placed Engine 45 in front of the house on Mary St.  The Engine 45 crew split into two teams with Lt. Colburn and FF Wesson raising ground ladders to the upper floors of Side D.  Suddenly, as FF's C. Keen and K. Stevens were getting ready to enter the house for search and rescue, a man appeared at and broke a side window.  Keen and Stevens pulled this man from the window to safety and turned him over to the waiting Medics and EMT's from Ambulance 46-1.

This victim advised the team that there was still another man inside, possibly on the third floor.  The crew from Engine 46-1 (Lt. Lee, IV) was pushing-in with their attack line into the now, well-involved first floor fire and it was decided that Keen and Lt. Colburn would need to do a VES (Vent Enter Search) through the third floor side window.  Just after Keen entered the window and Lt. Colburn about to enter, the entire room flashed on them.  Colburn directed Keen to the window and assisted him out and down the ladder to safety.  The crew from Tower 45 (Capt. Moore) raised ground ladders then went into the exposure side of the house to do a search and rescue of a possible child that was still on the upper floors of the the exposure.  The crew from Engine 46-2 (Lt. Kowalczyk) advanced a 1.75" attack line into the exposure and found heavy fire in the center wall and in the basement stairs.  Capt. 46 (T. Swisher) with FF's Wesson and K. Stevens entered the original fire building to attempt a search and rescue for the second victim with the protection of the attack line from Engine 46-1 and a back-up line from Engine 45.  However, they found the same condition as the exposure, with heavy fire in the basement and the second floor stairs burning.  All companies were ordered out of the houses due to deteriorating conditions and the operation would be switched-over to an offensive-defensive mode to contain the fire before reentering.  It was later learned that the second victim exited the house on his own prior to our arrival.

Rescue 45 (Lt. J. Stevens) was the Command Post and the crew assisted with stretching the back-up lines, feeding hose to the engine companies and fire attack to the rear of the houses.  The second alarm was struck, moving the stand-by units into the scene - Tower 47 (Lionville Fire Co.) from Station 45, Engine 6-2 (West Whiteland) from Station 46 and Engine 35 (Wagontown Fire Co.) from Station 38.

Tower 47 was placed on the side street (Whelen Ave.) and was used to ventilate the rear section of the roof, in addition to using their ground ladders.  The crews from Engines 6-2, 35 and 38 were used for secondary searches and  overhaul.  The victim that was rescued from the window was flown by SkyFlight Care to a Trauma Center.  Engine 39-3 (West Bradford Fire Co.) handled the landing zone for the helicopter.  The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Chester County and State Fire Marshals.

Other units that assisted at the scene were:  Squad 45, Air-Light 46, Ambulance and Medic 46-2, Ambulance 41-2 (Washington Hose Co.), Micu 87 (Uwchlan Amb.) and Medic 93 (Brandywine Hospital).

Stand-by coverage was provided by Ladder 49 (East Brandywine Fire Co.) at Station 45, Engine 56 (Goshen Fire Co.) at Station 46 and Engine 31-2 (Sadsburyville Fire Co.) at Station 38.

After the DFD returned to their stations and got all of the apparatus back in service, at 9:40 AM, 30 members volunteered to participate in an eight hour PA Basic Boating Safety Training class, conducted by WhiteCap Water Rescue.

All photos are courtesy of Joel Gramling.

Another busy Saturday for the Alerts started at 9:00 AM with Rescue 45 and Engine 46-1 (Minquas Fire Co. No. 2) being dispatched for a gas leak in the Wind Ridge section of East Caln Twp.  The crews found that a shut-off valve was not closed properly in the single family dwelling.

At 3:00 PM the DFD participated in the annual Downingtown Christmas Parade.  The parade started at Gable Ave., proceeded east on Lancaster Ave. to Whiteland Ave.  Squad, Engine, Rescue and Tower 45 were well represented and the ever popular six-man crew braved the very cold temperatures and paraded on-top of Tower 45.  We would like to thank the Home Depot for donating eight poinsettias that we used to decorate our trucks during the parade.  They looked great on our trucks!

At 5:15 PM the DFD was dispatched to for an automatic fire alarm to the Deveraux School.  Chief 46 (M. Miller) arrived on scene finding burnt food in the kitchen, with no services required.

The Alert Fire Co. No. 1 hosted a Basic Vehicle Rescue Technician class on Nov. 7, 8, 21, 22 and Dec. 5, 6, 2009 that was enjoyed by students from eleven different fire companies from three counties. 

On completion of this comprehensive class the students are now certified by the PA Fire Academy and the PA Dept. of Health in BVR - Awareness, Operations and Technician.  We would like to thank all of the students who completed the 48 hour class and Eric Rickenbach and his instructors from EJR Rescue Techs and the Bucks County Community College.  In addition we would like to thank Sanner's Towing for allowing us to use the yard for our practical evolutions and providing several cars and Miller's Automotive for towing some of them, as well.

The fire companies who attended were as follows:

Alert No. 1, Minquas No. 2, East Brandywine, Kennett, Modena, Pomeroy, West Bradford (Who also provided the use of Rescue 39.), West Whiteland, Concordville (Del. County), Edgmont (Del. County), Grill (Berks County).

Thirty-eight members of the DFD Active Force participated the first of four water rescue training events.  This first course was Water Rescue Awareness for the First Responder.  The volunteers learned such things as scene assessment, evaluation of potential and existing water hazards, rescue vs. recovery and personal safety measures.

The course was taught by Todd Stahl of WhiteCap Water Rescue Training ( www.whitecaprescue.com ).  Part two of the courses, PA Basic Boating, will take place on Sunday, December 13, 2009.  Upon completion of all of the water rescue courses, the volunteers will be nationally certified in Emergency Water Rescue Emergencies.

A crew with Rescue and Boat 45 attended the second official meeting of the newly formed Chester County Technical Rescue Task Force at the Thorndale Fire Co. (Station 38).  This was the first time in several years that the Heavy Rescue companies of Chester County assembled all of their specialized rescue equipment together at one location, so that the officers of the companies could learn more about the resources that are available to them.

This Task Force has been in discussion about being formed for several months, that would consist of the Heavy Rescue companies of Chester County.  The Task Force would be an asset to all of the emergency services of Southeastern Pennsylvania, however the primary response area would, in-fact be for incidents occurring in Chester County.  The special technical rescue disciplines would consist of Water Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, High and Low Angle Rope Rescue, Trench Rescue and Collapse Rescue.

The Alert rescue team has been invited to participate in the Task Force and the Active Force Members have volunteered to further their many hours of specialized technical rescue training over the next year.

Some photo's are courtesy of Twin Valley FD ( www.tvfd69.com )

The busy day started at 1:15 AM with Rescue 45, Engine 46-2 and 46 EMS (Minquas Fire Co. No. 2) being dispatched to a two vehicle auto accident in front of 971 E. Lancaster Ave.  The rescue team stabilized and removed the drivers side door of one compact car.  Two victims were taken to the hospital.

At 8:00 AM the Alerts hosted the first day (eight hours each day) of Basic Vehicle Rescue Technician training with a total of 30 students from eleven different fire companies in attendance.

At 12:16 PM the Stations 41 and 43 (Coatesville Fire Dept.) were dispatched to a house fire in the 400 block of Oak St.  Chief 43 (Johnson) arrived quickly on scene and requested the Working Fire Dispatch which sent Tower 45 as the second-due truck company.  Shortly after the WFD, Chief 43 requested a second alarm assignment.  Tower and Squad 45 responded within one minute of the dispatch.  The crews assisted with checking for extension in the roof area of one of the two exposures.  As Tower 45 was being released from the fire ground, they were redirected to relocate to Station 41 with Engine 35 (Wagontown Fire Co.) during the overhaul stage of the fire.

As Tower 45 was returning to Downingtown via the Rt. 30 By Pass, Rescue 45 was dispatched to an auto accident at the end of the Rt. 30 By Pass off ramp at Business Rt. 30.  Tower 45 responded directly and Chief 46 (Miller) was advised will responding of a brush fire on the Rt. 30 By Pass at the Quarry Rd. off ramp.  Tower 45 stopped at the small brush fire and assisted Engine 46-2 since the auto accident was for minor injuries with Ambulance 46-1 handling the call.  Rescue 45 was recalled from the accident.

As Tower 45 and Engine 46-2 was returning from the brush fire (on Quarry Rd.) Rescue 45 was dispatched again for another auto accident on Business Rt. 30 in front of D'Ambrosio Dodge.  Chief 46, Deputy 45 (Nelms), Tower 45 and Engine 46-2 arrived on location within two minutes to find a two vehicle accident.  The crews from Tower and Rescue 45 stabilized the vehicles and assisted controlling the hazards.

As the crews arrived back at station at 3:50 PM, a crew of six relocated Engine 45 to Station 41 to cover the City of Coatesville during the CFD Banquet.  Engine 45 responded to an auto accident and controlled the hazards and assisted the EMS.  At 10:45 PM Engine 45 was requested to go to the 400 block of Oak St., to the earlier fire location to assist residents with lighting so they could gather some important items from their homes.  Engine 45 was back in service in the Borough at midnight.

At 6:36 AM the DFD (Tower 45 and Engine 46-1) was dispatched for an automatic fire alarm at 201 Robbins Rd. in East Caln Twp.  Two minutes after dispatch the fire alarm was upgraded to a building fire after the Downingtown Police Dept. reported heavy smoke showing.  The full box alarm assignment added the remainder of Station 45 and 46 (Minquas Fire Co. No. 2), along with Tanker 39 (West Bradford Fire Co.) and Engine 47-5 (Lionville Fire Co.).

Chief 46 (M. Miller) and Deputy 45 (Nelms) arrived promptly after the DPD with heavy fire showing through the roof of the Piori Mattress Warehouse side of the two business one story commercial type of building.  Tower 45 and Engine 46-1 were directed to lead off with their heaviest water lines and master-streams, protecting the Goodyear Tire and Service Center.  Engine 46-1 laid a 5" supply line to the entrance of the Goodyear Center and supplied Tower 45 with a 5" supply line, as well.

Engine 45 laid an additional 5" supply line to the front of Priori Mattress and Engine 46-2 laid a 5" supply line to the rear of the building.  Rescue 45 established the Command Post at Brandywine Ave. and Robbins Rd.  Tanker 39 established a fold-a-tank operation to supplement the hydrant system.  And, Engine 47-5 assisted Engine 46-2 with water supply and fire attack in the rear.

Shortly after arrival, Chief 46 requested a second alarm assignment.  This consisted of the full company from Station 39, Tower 47, Engine 6-2 and Tower 6 (West Whiteland Fire Co.), Tanker 49 (East Brandywine Fire Co.), Tanker 53 (Fame Fire Co. No. 3), Com 1 with the Chester County Fire Marshals.

Combined crews from Tower 45, Engine 45, Engine 46-1 and Engine 6-2 worked inside of the Goodyear Center to pull ceilings and stop the main body of fire at the firewall.  The remainder of the companies operated in the rear of the building with master streams and also holding the fire at the firewall.

Tower 28 (Parkesburg Fire Co.), Engine 33-5 (Honey Brook Fire) and Engine 38 (Thorndale Fire Co.) relocated and stood-by at Station 45.  Engine 33-5 did respond to an auto accident on Uwchlan Ave. near Pennsylvania Ave., with no service required while on stand-by.

Rescue 45, Engine 46-2 and Ambulance/Medic 46 (Minquas Fire Co. No. 2) were dispatched just after 5:00 PM for an auto accident on the Rt. 30 By Pass on the overpass, over Business Rt. 30 in East Caln Twp.  The crew from Rescue 45 stabilized the vehicles and assisted with controlling the hazards.  Two victims were taken to a local hospital with injuries. 

It is with deep regret that the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 of Downingtown, PA announces the following:

Whereas, the Almighty God, in his infinite wisdom has removed from our midst on Tuesday, October 20, 2009, one of our beloved sisters and Life Member of the Ladies Auxiliary, Josephine 'Jo' Pacinelli, who was always found faithful in the discharge of her duties and whose every thought and purpose was for the welfare of her company and community.  And, while we deeply regret and mourn the loss sustained in the death of our late sister, we bow in humble submission to the Divine Will.

Therefore, be it resolved that we, the members of the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 of Downingtown, PA, do hereby extend and convey to the bereaved family and friends our deep and heartfelt sympathy.

Jo became an active member of the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 Ladies Auxiliary over 40 years ago.  She was a Life Member of the Auxiliary and was its President for 28 years.  

A viewing will be held on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 from 8:30 AM until 10:30 AM at the James Terry Funeral Home, 736 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA  19335.

A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11:00 AM at St. Joseph Church on Manor Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.

Interment will immediately follow at the St. Joseph's Cemetery.

It is with deep regret that the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 of Downingtown, PA announces the following:

Whereas, the Almighty God, in his infinite wisdom has removed from our midst on Tuesday, October 20, 2009, one of our beloved brothers and Life Member, Fred Eckenbach, who was always found faithful in the discharge of his duties and whose every thought and purpose was for the welfare of his company.  And, while we deeply regret and mourn the loss sustained in the death of our late brother, we bow in humble submission to the Divine Will.

Therefore, be it resolved that we, the members of the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 of Downingtown, PA, do hereby extend and convey to the bereaved family and friends our deep and heartfelt sympathy.

Fred became an Active Force Member of the company on January 28, 1963 and was a Driver and an Engineer until 1983.  He was awarded his his Life Membership in 1983, as well.  Fred was also past Fire Chief of the Thorndale Fire Co. (1979-1992) and a member of the Minquas Fire Co. No. 2 and the Wagontown Fire Co.

A viewing will be held on Friday, October 23, 2009 from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM at the James Terry Funeral Home, 736 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA  19335.

Friends can call, as well on Saturday, October 24, 2009 from 8:30 AM until 9:45 AM at the Downingtown United Methodist Church, 751 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335, followed by a service of Christian Burial at 10:00 AM.

Interment will immediately follow at the Bradford Cemetery on Northbrook Rd. in Marshallton, PA.

Any company wishing to participate or send apparatus should contact Sergeant Raymond Stackhouse of the Thorndale Fire Co. at 484-571-9686.

All photo's are courtesy of www.westwoodfire.com