Volunteers Serving Springfield Township
Recently, Wyndmoor Hose Company #1 and Flourtown Fire Company responded to an overturned vehicle on the on-ramp to Route 309 just off Paper Mill Road. The vehicle posed a special challenge to rescuers as it featured a high-strength steel roll-cage frame. The rescue was completed after removing a portion of the vehicles roof.
The Colonial Regional Technical Rescue Task Force, of which Flourtown Fire Company is a participating member, held a Department of Homeland Security authorized drill on Sunday, November 20, 2011. Taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather, the companies gathered at Spring Mill Fire Company and were soon dispatched in an order as they would be in a real emergency to a local train crossing and station. The scenario involved a commuter train striking a vehicle, and a mass causality and injured situation. There was also a separate law enforcement element that involved a terrorist bomb scenario, but that was held on a separate car a bit further down the tracks from the fire companies’ drill.
Flourtown personnel, Assistant Chief Chris Buckley, Captain Chris Manning, Leitenant John Redington,and firefighters: Dean Seltzer, Kevin Davis, Tim Ernst, Tyler Buckley, and Sal Santangelo all took part in stabilizing victims and extricating them from the train and the severely-damaged vehicle. Chief George Wilmot and his daughter, Lexi Wilmot were part of the scenario’s observation team and “victim” volunteers. Photos by Bob Wilmot, Jr.
Flourtown Fire Company and Wyndmoor Hose Company were dispatched at approximately 3:30PM to reports of a car crash into a building around 613 Bethlehem Pike in Erdenheim. Multiple callers reported two individuals trapped in the vehicle and extensive damage to the building. Squad 6 and Engine 6 responded along with Rescue 82. Stabilization of the vehicle and patients was followed by a decision to cut and flap the entire roof of the vehicle so extrication of the driver who was laying on the drivers door and a passenger could take place. Following extrication, and removal of the vehicle by Flourtown Texaco, lumber from Rittenhouse Lumber across the street was used to stabilize the building which had a large portion of its street facing wall destroyed in the crash.
Squad 6 and Engine 6 responded to a three car vehicle accident on Skippack Pike (Route 73) just past Joshua Road on Monday, September 5, 2011. The driver of a white SUV, complaining of having difficulty breathing, was extricated from the vehicle. Squad 6 popped the driver’s door and the patient was removed. All others involved in the accident were out of the vehicles. Utility 6 along with Traffic 29 handled closing down Route 73 until the accident scene could be cleared. Rescue 29 also responded and assisted Flourtown Fire Company on the scene.
Photo by Bob Wilmot, Jr.
A vehicle into a tree at 1307 Paper Mill Road was the dispatch. Rescue 82 and Squad 6 responded and found a young driver had struck a tree at the address after losing control. The vehicle a SUV struck the tree in the area of the drivers door. Using the Homatro rescue tools off Rescue 82, Flourtown’s crew assisted with patient extrication by removing the driver’s door and pulling a hose line for safety purposes.
