Flourtown Fire Company

Volunteers Serving Springfield Township

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Northwestern Ave. Water Rescue

Saturday, March 13th at 20:18 hrs Station 6 (Flourtown), Rescue and Boat 82 (Wyndmoor), and Rescue 29 (Barren Hill) were dispatched to the area of Northwestern Ave. and Germantown Pk. for the water rescue. Chief 6 arrived on scene to find a van, that had driven around a barricade and a gate, stalled in approx. 4 ft of water with two occupants. Crews arrived on scene and were ordered to attempt to walk out to the van, while Boat 82 was prepared to be launched in case the current was to strong to walk in. The crew walking out to the van reported back they were able to make it to the van and they were in the process of removing the occupants. Occupants were checked out at the scene by Springfield (311) Ambulance. Crews cleared at 20:50 hrs.

Flourtown Fire Company Participates in Wissahickon Fire Company Firefighter Camp Graduation

Officers from the Flourtown Fire Company and Wyndmoor Hose Company were invited to attend the Wissahickon Fire Company Firefighter Camp Graduation. Both Flourtown and Wyndmoor had future junior firefighters participate in the camp. Congratulations Guys!

Sta 7 FF Camp 2009 (Small)

From left: Wyndmoor Chief Fran DePaul, Wyndmoor Captain Pete Bistline, Wyndmoor Camper Patrick Dolan, Flourtown Camper Dave Brierly, Flourtown Camper Greg Fasold, Flourtown Lieutenant Chris Manning, Flourtown Assistant Chief Chris Buckley.

Flourtown Receives Holmatro Golden Pin Award

Flourtown Fire Co. along with Wyndmoor Hose Co. and Springfield Ambulance have received the Holmaro “Golden Pin Award” , which is an award to recognize each person involved in life saving actions,using Holmatro Rescue Tools.

The following is the submission to Holmatro:

The incident was originally dispatched for Flourtown Fire Co. as a vehicle fire after an accident. on April 15th at 00:54 hrs. When Chief 6 went en-route with county radio he was advised that, from police this was now going to be a vehicle rescue. With the upgrade to a vehicle rescue the response was now for Station 6 (Flourtown) and Station 82 (Wyndmoor) with Rescue 82 for the assist. With Squad 6 being out of service, Utility 6 was first out with Flourtown’s Holmatro Rescue Tools. Chief 6 went on scene with a pick-up truck that had struck and sheared off a telephone pole, with a transformer on the ground, hit the corner of a stone building and was across the north bound lanes of Bethlehem Pike with the driver entrapped inside the vehicle. Chief 6 advised the crew of Utility 6 to prepare to go into service with the combi-tool and cutters to extricate a heavily entrapped victim. The victim, who was unconscious but breathing, was trapped in the drivers seat with the steering column, dash board and “A” post pinning him in. The first in crew prepared the power units and tools to go into service, while the rest of the crew being supplemented by the crew from Engine 6 stabilized the vehicle. Chief 6 advised Rescue 82’s crew to prepare to go into service with their Holmatro rams, help with stabilization and secure any hazards. The remaining crew from Engine 6 pulled two 1-3/4″ hose lines and an extinguisher, for safety due to the vehicle smoking. The crews first removed the driver’s door with the combi-tool and cutters. After the removal of the door the crew used the combi-tool to spread the “A” post and dash away from the “B” post to be able to get a ram in so they could push the “A” post and dash away from the victim. The rams were able to push the dash away from the victim and create a large enough opening to be able to successfully remove the victim. Victim was transported by Springfield Ambulance , Class 1 Trauma. This whole operation was performed under unsupported power lines, due to the snapped pole and a business sign that was dangling off the front of the building due to the impact of the building.

All members on scene received a certificate of achievement and a gold plated lapel pin in the shape of a miniature spreader from Holmatro.

Flourtown Fire Company hosts Confined Space/Building Collapse Training for Area Fire Companies

By Tim Ernst, President & Firefighter Flourtown Fire Company

January 6, 2008

ConfinedSpace_01_2008The scenario was modeled after building collapses that take place all over the world everyday. It used technology developed after 9/11 and Oklahoma City that allow rescuers the time needed to make progress in this type of emergency and learn what needs to be done. The training scenario involved two victims trapped in a three story building where the second floor partially collapsed onto the first and the third floor completely “pancaking” onto the second. In the end it would take over 50 firefighters, over five hours with hundreds of feet of air hoses, ropes, and many air packs to rescue both victims and it all took place in a 20-foot trailer in the parking lot of Flourtown Fire Company on Sunday.

Personal Protection Equipment Specialists, Inc. from Lincoln University, PA provided the confined space/building collapse trailer to Flourtown, Wyndmoor, Oreland, Wissahickon, Fort Washington, Green Lane fire companies and Springfield Ambulance. The drill began with each firefighter getting their blood pressure and pulse checked by Springfield Ambulance personnel to set a base line. Then after the teams of two or four firefighters donned self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and entered the darkened maze of tilting floors, shifting building debris, wires, and obstacles, where they removed the debris and brought in shoring equipment to inch their way to the victims – their vitals were checked again upon exiting the trailer. According to Chief George Wilmot, III of Flourtown, “We organized the fire companies and ambulance squads as we would in a real emergency and we learned a lot today. It was nice to work together with all the other companies and work side-by-side with their personnel and equipment. The lessons learned today in training will help us acquire the equipment and training needed to further strengthen our response.”

After 22 teams of firefighters had entered the simulator and five hours of crawling on hands and knees through the pitch black maze the two victims were reached, their “injuries” assessed and they were packaged up and removed from the collapse zone. “It really opened our eyes to how many firefighters it takes in such a situation, we had over 100 firefighters here today and for each one that went in, it took 8 to 12 outside supporting them,” said Robin Liberty a firefighter with Flourtown Fire Company. Wilmot concluded, “By assessing the vitals of each firefighter and recording the amount of time they could stay in the hazardous environment on a regular SCBA bottle we learned a great deal about our capabilities. Each company promised to share their photos and videos from today and critique their performance. Everyone I’ve talked to enjoyed the training today, it was a long day, but well worth it.”

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ConfinedSpace_03_2008

Images of the Confined Space Training