~ Serving Downingtown and East Caln Since 1887 ~

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 Thursday, June 6, 2013, one of our beloved brothers and Life Member, William G. Barrett, 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 department.  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.
 
 


Bill passed away at his home in Simpson Meadows. He was the loving husband of the late Geraldine Amos Barrett, with whom he had shared 52 years of marriage at the time of her passing in 2010.

Born and raised in Downingtown, he was the son of the late William McD. (Past Alert President) and Anna Pannebaker Barrett.

He was a 1944 graduate of Downingtown High School, and was employed by Pepperidge Farm as a lead-man for 27 years, retiring in 1991.

Bill was a second generation firefighter and became an active member of the Alert Fire Co. at the age of 16, in 1942, 71 years ago!  He retired from fighting fires after being on the front lines for more than 40 years, but continued to visit the firehouse as often as possible and helped out with various tasks that needed to be done. He played a major role in shaping the company into one of the most respected fire companies in the Delaware Valley, and held just about every officer’s position since joining in 1942. They included, Lieutenant 1951, 1953-57 and 1961, Captain 1952, Trustee 1954-56, 1970-78, 1997-99, Vice President 1957-59, President 1960-68 and Financial Secretary 1980-83.

He was a member of Central Presbyterian Church. He was also a Director and Past President of the Downingtown Volunteer Firemens Relief Association, and a life member of the Patriotic Order of Sons of America Former Camp No. 338 Downingtown. He dedicated his life to volunteering to his community.

Mr. Barrett is survived by his son, Life Member and current President John Patrick Butler and wife, Agata Pollini Butler of Downingtown, and daughters, Susan B. Schoellkopf (current Financial Secretary) of Downingtown and Mary Ann Parks and husband, Michael, of Saugus, CA. Also surviving are his grandchildren, William and Patrick (current Active Force Firefighter) Butler, Becky Schoellkopf and Jack Parks; great-grandchildren, Sophia and Lily Butler; and cousins, Norman Pannebaker (current Life Member) and wife, Harriet, and Helen Carr and husband, Hayes.



A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 10th, at the James J. Terry Funeral Home, 736 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown. A visitation will be held at the funeral home on Sunday from 7 – 9 p.m. and prior to the service on Monday from 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. Interment will be in Northwood Cemetery, Downingtown.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alert Fire Company No. 1, 122 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.

An explosion that rocked the Caln Township Thursday night is being investigated by county and state officials, though it is not thought to be suspicious.

At about 9 p.m. Thursday, the Thorndale Fire Company (Station 38) along with other companies providing aid, were dispatched to 2500 block of Creek Road in the township for a report of a building fire with partial collapse.

Upon arrival, the first units reported no fire, but a partial collapse of the building, which was unoccupied at the time.

 
Andy Reczek, director of Caln code enforcement for the township, was on the scene Thursday. He said the explosion blew out the south and east walls of the building. There also was partial roof collapse because of lack of structural support in those areas, he said.

 
 
The building was described as a warehouse type occupied by between eight and 10 different tenants.

The explosion started in the portion of the space occupied by Bilway Nutrients Inc., a manufacturer of horse feed, according to Steve Miller, fire marshal for the township. The company was in the process of relocating and was expected to be out of the building by Monday.

This article is courtesy of the Daily Local News.

The Downingtown Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 845 and the Downingtown American Legion Post 475 hosted the Annual Memorial Parade today with the entire DFD participating.

At the completion of the parade, a ceremony to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in battle and to those veterans who passed away was held at the Veterans Memorial in Kerr Park.  As part of the ceremony, DFD Chief Gregg Nelms, Deputy Chief Michael Miller and Assistant Chief Phil Moore each placed an antique speaking trumpet of flowers at the base of the World War II Memorial to honor the deceased DFD members who served our country.
 

The new Tower 45 was on display this weekend at the Lancaster County Firemen's Assoc. Fire Expo 2013.  The Expo was held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA.

The new HP-95' Mid-Mount Platform was center-stage as the only mid-mount in the E-One booth.  Also on display for E-One was the new 137' Rear-Mount, Ladder 53 from the Fame Fire Co. No. 3 of West Chester.

The members and officers of the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 offer our thoughts and prayers to the Robert Miller family and the West Bradford Fire Co. for the untimely passing of Robert "Robbie" Miller.

Robbie was a former member of the Alert Fire Co and was currently the Captain of the West Bradford Fire Co. and a firefighter with the Good Will Fire Co. No. 2 and the East Brandywine Fire Co.  Robbie's father is currently a Fire Police Officer of the Downingtown Fire Dept. Fire Police.

The Downingtown Fire Dept. celebrated the accomplishments of 2012 at its 56th. Annual Banquet.  Over 100 guests enjoyed a buffet dinner, awards presentation and dancing at the Peoples Light and Theater in Frazer, PA.

During the awards presentation, the following members were recognized for their accomplishments:

• Alert Fire Co. Firefighter of the Year - Kevin Johnson
• Minquas Fire Co. Firefighter of the Year - Ken Boyd
• EMS Person of the Year - Matt Scalia
• Fire Police Officer of the Year - Robert Miller

And the following Alert Fire Co. awards:

• Presidents Award - Alert Active Force
• Captains Award for Rookie of the Year - Jason Cary
• Meritorious Service - Vince Panetti
• Meritorious Service - Downingtown FD Fire Police
• 30 Years of Continuous Active Service - Jeff Trego

 

We would like to thank Downingtown Mayor Josh Maxwell, State Representative Becky Corbin and Senator Andy Dinniman who presented the Firefighters, EMS and Fire Police Officer of the Year winners with Award Citations for their accomplishments.


In addition, we would like to thank the Borough of Downingtown and East Caln Township for their continued support of the annual banquet.  And, the Christiana (DE) Fire Co., Berwyn Fire Co., Radnor Fire Co. and Amity Fire Co. (Berks County)  for the stand-by service that they provided the DFD for the night.

If you were wondering what was the deal was with all of the sirens last night around 7 PM, here is your answer…

After a year of assembly, and months of delays, Alert Fire Co’s new 100ft ladder tower finally made its Borough debut on Saturday night.

After a quick ‘victory lap’ around town, the truck pulled into its new home with much fanfare. An estimated 100 people gathered at Alert to welcome the newest addition to the Downingtown Fire Department. In fact, according to a rep from E-One (the manufacturer), “in over 27 years worth of delivering trucks, I have never seen a turnout like this before.”

Besides the dozens of Downingtown firefighters and their families, the crowd consisted of Borough elected officials and neighboring volunteer fire companies.

The new ladder tower truck was originally approved for purchase by Council back in December of 2011 at total cost of over $1.1 million. The new 100ft ladder truck will be replacing the current 1987 100ft ladder tower truck ‘Tower 45′ which won 1991 Pennsylvania State – Best Appearing and Equipped Ladder Tower/Platform Champions.

The truck is scheduled for a ‘soup to nuts’ testing on Sunday to make sure everything surpasses expectation. According to Downingtown Fire Chief Gregg Nelms, “after the lettering and decals are added, the community will be welcome to see the truck.”

Article and photos are courtesy of www.downingtowndoes.com.

At approximately 4:15 PM, Tower 45 was dispatched as the second due truck company, as part of the Working Fire Dispatch to assist Station 47 (Lionville Fire Co.) at a single family dwelling fire in the 700 block of Denford Way, Uwchlan Twp.

Tower 45 (Capt. Ashbee) was assigned to the front of the house for ladder tower operations with the remaining crew members going into the house, pulling ceilings and assisting with fire attack.  In addition, the team placed ground ladders around the house.  The crew from Squad 45 (Lt. Johnson) assisted with salvage and overhaul.

The officers and members of the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 would like to congratulate and wish all of the members of the Minquas Fire Co. No. 2 much success with your new station on Wallace Ave.

At 10:00 AM, Stations 41 and 43 (Coatesville FD) were dispatched to the 300 block of Fleetwood St. for a building fire drill

Rescue 45 was added to the assignment in the Second Alarm.  The Rescue 45 (Lt. Wesson) team were directed to do a search and rescue of multiple apartments on the second floor of the building.  After that assignment was completed the team assisted the RIT companies with breaching an interior block wall rescuing four trapped firefighters.

Photos are courtesy of Coatesville FD.

The Alert volunteers were busy today starting just after 11:00 AM when Rescue 45 was dispatched as part of the Working Fire Dispatch assist Stations 41 and 43 (Coatesville FD) on E. Chestnut St. in the City of Coatesville, for a house fire.

As Rescue 45 was clearing the Coatesville assignment, Rescue, Tower and Engine 45 were dispatched to assist Station 49 (East Brandywine Fire Co.) with a house fire on Tarrytown Lane.  This fire was contained to the chimney.

And, just after the crews were finished in East Brandywine Twp., the DFD was dispatched for another house fire on E. Lancaster Ave., in the Borough.  It was determined that the homeowner had a malfunctioning dryer.

The DFD completed the busy day with an auto accident on E. Lancaster Ave. in East Caln Twp.

The Alert Fire Company Truck Committee traveled to the E-One Headquarters in Ocala, FL for the final inspection on February 5th through February 7th.  E-One have a few more things to finalize before delivering the new Tower 45 to Pennsylvania.

Just before 5:30 PM, the DFD was dispatched to a Gas Leak at E. Lancaster and Brandywine Ave’s. Chief 45 (Nelms) promptly arrived on location, establishing Command, and found PECO Energy Gas crews already working on a previous gas leak at that location. It was determined that a high pressure gas feed line was damaged during the PECO operation, resulting in a major gas leak.

All apparatus returned to their stations by 10:30 PM.
Photos are courtesy of Nozzle Nut Photography and Tom Kelly IV.

The Top Ten Active Force Responders for the year 2012 were as follows:

1)  Tom Lee  -  273

2)  Jason Cary  -  226

3)  Phil Moore  -  223

4)  Vince Panetti - 206

5)  Kevin Johnson - 197

6)  Josh Tatham and Brett Wesson - 176

7)  Karl Stevens - 165

8)  Jeff Stevens - 163

9)  Chris Keen - 161

10)  Joe Marks - 149
 

The Alert Truck Committee just returned home from their trip to E-One for the mid-construction review of the new Tower 45.  They reported that good progress is being made and it should be delivered by the end of winter or early spring.

The new truck will be an E-One HP 95 Mid-Mount Platform built on a Cyclone II chassis.  The aerial is a four-section 95' aluminum aerial with an aluminum platform or bucket.  It also has an automatic stabilizer leveling system and a 2000 GPM pump.