RIT DRILL

Monday, September 26, 2011  For this week's monday night drill the crew from Manoa headed down to the Haverford Township Burn Tower for a RIT drill.  Earlier in the day a few members went down to assist the officer staff with building a training prop and setting up the drill.  A firefighter on a handline operating in the basement division had become trapped after a collapse and declared a Mayday.  The crew was split up into 2 RIT teams and the first team was activated to go in service. Crews worked under heavy smoke to free the blocked doors removed the collapsed items crawled under a mock up and located the downed firefighter. Once a path was made to the trapped member the crew hooked up the RIT pack and were switched out as their own air supply began to go down. Team 2 then converted the air pack to a harness and removed the down firefighter to division 1. After removal all crews had a de briefing to discuss what was faced and what worked and did not work to remove the member. 

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SEPTEMBER TOWNSHIP WIDE DRILL

Sunday, September 25, 2011  This morning the 5 companies of the Haverford Township Bureau of Fire got together at the township training grounds for a little training.  Manoa brought their Engine, Llanerch brought both their Engines, Brookline brought their Foam Unit, Oakmont brought their Ladder, and Bon Air brought their Rescue.  Today we shuffled up the members into 3 apparatus crews and moved them from truck to truck.  This event was aimed at getting members used to working next to and with members of other companies, along with getting them familiar with other company's apparatus.  To add to the new situation, all the Chiefs on location stood back and let the Captains and below run the show.  All went well, and we can't wait for November when we can do it again.


Photos courtesy of Ken Kelly, Firefighter for Brookline Fire Company and amateur photographer for First Due Emergency Photography.

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TRUCK FIRE AT THE GAS PUMPS

Thursday, September 22, 2011  At 1541hours, Company 56 was dispatched to the Hess Gas Station in the 1100-block of West Chester Pike for a report of a vehicle fire. Upon arrival, Assistant 56 (Norman Jr) found a work truck with the engine compartment well involved in the station's lot. Squad 56 arrived and pulled a 1 3/4" crosslay to get a knock on the fire. The fire was held to the engine compartment with minor extension into the passenger cab.


Units on scene: Squad 56, Engine 56, Ambulance 56, Assistant 56, Haverford Car-1, and HTPD units





THANKS TO BRIAN FEENEY FOR THE PICTURES.

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DWELLING FIRE GOES 3 ALARMS IN THE 34 LOCAL

Tuesday, September 13, 2011  At about 1520hours a passerby rang the door bell at the Llanerch Fire House and alerted the crews there of a house fire across the street.  34-9 (Chief Roberts) went across and reported a 2 story twin with heavy smoke and fire showing and one person trapped on the 2nd floor.  34-9 was able to talk the trapped victim out a window and onto a landing on the front of the house.  With in minutes 34-9 established Darby Road Command and requested a 2nd Alarm, bringing to him Rescue 56.  Upon the Rescue's arrival the crew set up for RIT operations just as evacuation tones were being struck.  All firefighters were accounted for and an exterior attack was mounted.  Throughout the operations Command requested a 3rd Alarm for man power and placed the 56 crew in service.  Rescue 20 (Garrettford Drexel Hill Fire Company) took over as the RIT.  A lot of salvage and overhaul was required in the main fire building due to a large amount of clutter at a hoarder level.


Units on scene included Engines 34-1, 35, 38, 26 (Highland Park) Ladders 35, 38, 26, Tower 34, Rescues 56, 20 (Drexel Hill), Foam 35, Squad 56, Ambulances 34-7, 34-7A, 56-7, and Rehabs 34 and 313 (Narberth).  An Engine out of 41 (Newtown Square) and Rescue 44 (Springfield) covered Station 56, while other stations in Haverford Township also received covers.  53-7 (Marple) covered 56 EMS, and Medic 75-7 (Briarcliffe) covered 34 EMS and ALS.


The homeowner was transported to Crozier Chester Medical Center for possible respiratory burns.

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A LITTLE DIFFERENT TRAINING TO STIR UP THE 'NORMAL'

Monday, September 12, 2011  After a short discussion it was decided that we needed to do something a little different for drill.  After a few emails and texts back and forth, we decided on drafting to be a topic for training.  Even though Haverford Township is very urban in the idea of hydrants, we here at Station 56 have to be ready for anything.  With our Squad being on the South Eastern PA Task Force, drafting is a very real possibility for some of our operators.  With the assistance of State Certified Pump Instructor Chief Mike Norman we were able to draft from Darby Creek on the township training grounds and prove that Manoa is ready for anything the world throws at us.

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DRIVER TRAINING ON NEW PIECE OF "APPARATUS"

Sunday, September 11, 2011  A few members took time out of their busy schedule recently to do some DT on the newest "apparatus" in the fleet. This unit, which is a sort of cross between a Canteen and a Special Service piece, makes it possible to transport the crew and keep the troops hydrated when they are operating a long distance from the trucks. We hope to have it in service as soon as it is sent away to be striped and have its light package assembled. What to call the new "truck" is still a hotly debated topic.

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BUSINESS YEAR COMES TO YET ANOTHER END FOR THE MANOA FIRE COMPANY

Saturday, September 10, 2011  At the end of August the official business year for the Manoa Fire Company came to a close.  Here are the Top Ten Responders for the 2010-2011 year. Top Ten Fire Responders: Chief Mike Norman Sr - 217 Firefighter Ashley Jameison - 203 Asst. Chief Gary Greenfield - 202 Sergeant Kevin Smith Jr - 173 Capt. Lou Lattanzio - 163 Capt. Kevin Smith Sr - 160 Asst. Chief Mike Norman Jr - 148 Engineer Mike Gershman - 144 Asst. Chief Gerry Kelly - 141 EMS Capt. Bill Wechsler - 136 Top Ten EMS Responders: Retired Chief Norm Williams - 92 FF/EMT Joe Yochim - 68 EMT Gino Petrasso - 60 EMT Bobby Fowler III - 54 EMT Desiree Riccardelli - 50 Firefighter Ashley Jameison - 47 EMS Lt. Jim Smith - 42 EMT Ken Kelly Jr - 41 EMS Sergeant Jordan Knarr - 40 EMS Capt. Bill Wechsler - 38 Top Ten Ambulance Hours: Retired Chief Norm Williams - 581 hours Chief Mike Norman Sr - 388 FF/EMT Joe Yochim - 343 Asst. Chief Mike Norman Jr - 330 EMS Capt. Bill Wechsler - 319 Firefighter TJ Regan - 318 Capt. Lou Lattanzio - 315 EMS Sergeant Jordan Knarr - 312 Capt. Kevin Smith Sr - 309 EMT Desiree Riccardelli - 296

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EARLY MORNING COMMERCIAL AFA UPGRADED QUICKLY TO A FULL BUILDING FIRE RESPONSE

Thursday, September 8, 2011  Just after the midnight hour Company 56, 58, Ladder 35, and Tower 34 were dispatched to 1305 West Chester Pike for an Automatic Fire Alarm.  The alarm company reported the alarm coming from the Dollar or Two business, located at the end of the row commercial strip mall.  This business is located 100 yards from the Staples store which had an active appliance fire only weeks before.
 

Moments later PD arrived on scene and reported fire at the main entrance of the business and the sprinkler system activated.  Fire Board relayed this information to Asst Chief Mike Norman Jr (56-9B) who had the assignment re-dispatched as a working fire.  In addition to the original units dispatched was Medic 108, Ambulances 56 and 34, and 38 for the RIT.  56-9B arrived and reported the same as PD, established West Chester Pike Command, and gave orders to Squad 56 which was only 30 seconds away.  The crew of the Squad pulled an 1"&3/4 and forced the main door.  Smoke was down to the firefighters shoulders and the entire building was quickly swept for other dangers and additional fire.  The fire was placed under control at the 20 minute mark.  Haverford Car 1 was requested for the investigation.  Units assisted with the investigation, conducted basic ventilation and minor overhaul for about an hour.  All units were available before 0200hours.
 

Units on scene included Squad and Engine 56, Pipeline and Rescue 58, Ladder 35, Tower 34, Squad 38, and Medic 108.
 

Along with fire alarms and smoke detectors, the number one reason this fire did not get out of control is because of the pre-piped wet sprinkler system.  Without that system the fire would have quickly spread across the ceiling and along the vast amount of plastic items on the shelves in the store.
 

Pictures Thanks to Dannon Voight

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BUSY DAY ALL OVER THE COUNTY FOR AFA'S

Wednesday, September 7, 2011  For Haverford Township the alarms began coming in at about 1100hours.  From that point forward for about 2 hours it seemed like it would never end.  In total the 5 Township Fire Companies responded to 10 Automatic Fire Alarms.  Station 56 responded to 6 of those alarms.  While investigating one alarm on Shelbourne, a neighbor approached the crew of Squad 56 and advised them another detector was sounding just a few houses down.  All fire alarms during the day turned up to be either faulty or accidental activations.

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WELCOME BACK FIREFIGHTER DIPASQUALE

Thursday, September 1, 2011  Only a few weeks ago Captain Coll received an unexpected email from Firefighter Dipasquale.  Matt was ending a 4 and a half year tour with the United States Navy and was asking if the Officer Staff could have a pager waiting for him.  As the Manoa Fire Company does for all of it's service members, we were more than happy to get things ready for him.  On Wednesday 8/24 Aviation Structural Mechanic Dipasquale became Firefighter once again.  Matt couldn't have picked a better time, and proved to be a huge help during the storm. As stated above, Matt served in the Navy for 4 and half years.  His duty stations included Naval Air Station North Island (San Diego) and Naval Air Facility Atsugi Japan.  Matt deployed on the USS Mustin DDG 89 and the USS Lassen DDG 8299 for a total sea time of 1 year, 2 m, and 17d.  Matt was a mechanic by trade in the Navy, making his specialty the SH60-B and SH60-F helos. Welcome home Matt.  Now get on the truck and get back to duty!

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