Flourtown Fire Company

Volunteers Serving Springfield Township

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Swift Water Rescue Training

The frequency of water related rescues and flash flooding has been steadily increasing over the past several years.

Flourtown Fire Company firefighters honed their swift water resuce skills during a training exercise on the evening of Monday, August 4th that simulated the swift-water rescue of two victims who were overcome by such flooding.

As a reminder, Flourtown Fire Company reminds you to “Turn Around Don’t Drown (TADD)“, and to take a moment to review the following statement from the National Weather Service:

“Each year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other severe weather related hazard. The Centers for Disease Control report that over half of all flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into hazardous flood water. The next highest percentage of flood-related deaths is due to walking into or near flood waters.Why? The main reason is people underestimate the force and power of water. Many of the deaths occur in automobiles as they are swept downstream. Of these drownings, many are preventable, but too many people continue to drive around the barriers that warn you the road is flooded”

Photos are courtesy of, R. Wilmot Jr.

 

Ruptured Gas Line

On May 15th, a private sub-contractor working for PECO Gas struck and ruptured a gas line in the 400 Block of Poplar Rd.  Members of Flourtown Fire Company responded with Engine-6, and stood by until crews were able to cap the leaking main.  No evacuations were required.

Photos courtesy of Robert Wilmot

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Weekend Training Opportunity

On Sunday, February 12th, Wyndmoor Hose Company invited Flourtown Fire Company to participate in a unique multi-company training exercise.

Wyndmoor was able to acquire a structure (house) that was scheduled to be torn down the following day.  This provided the Springfield Township Fire Company’s a unique opportunity to conduct realistic training evolutions that are normally simulated.  These activities are normally simulated, unless there is training prop available, since they often involve making large holes when performed “live”, which would cause damage that would need to be prepared.

However, since the acquired structure was scheduled to be torn down, we were free to breach walls, cut vent holes in the roof, force open interior/exterior doors, pull ceilings, open walls, as well as many other fire fighting skills that we are not normally able to practice.

 

 

Flourtown Fire Company Thanks Residents

On the evening of Monday, January 23, 2012 forty generous residents of Flourtown and Erdenheim, Pennsylvania were surprised to find a fire truck in front of their house and two or three Flourtown firefighters at their front door.  On most days firefighters only come to your house when things are going badly, but on this day they were there for a different reason.

That reason was to thank these residents for their generosity as donors in the 2011-2012 Flourtown Fire Company fund drive.  According to fire company Vice President, Dean Seltzer, fund drive donations have fallen off dramatically over the past three years as the economy has tanked.  To help reverse this trend, the Fire Company initiated a program this year to recognize its most generous residential and business donors.

As part of this program, residential donors giving $75 or more get an LED votive candle with the Fire Company logo, and those giving $150 or more get an even nicer LED candle.  Chief George Wilmot stated that the Fire Company decided to go with LED candles as a thank you gift because unattended candles are a leading cause of house fires.  The reason for the firefighters neighborhood visits on the 23rd was to deliver the first round of these LED candles.

Fire Company President Tim Ernst emphasized the fact that 100% of the fund drive donations go directly to the Fire Company, unlike certain other fund drive mailers where only a small fraction of the donations actually make it through to the sponsoring organization.

 

Roll Call of Members

Check out our new “Roll Call of Members” page that highlights a different member of the Flourtown Fire Company each month!

As you will see, a lot of us are just like you.  Business and trade professionals, students, men, and women.

We are all neighbors and members of the same community, and we encourage you to learn more about us, and in doing so, maybe you will want to submit an application and become a member of Flourtown Fire Company too!