BUSY MONTH FOR STATION 56

Thursday, September 1, 2011  This month marks a moment in history for the Manoa Fire Company.  Though we are not the busiest station in the county (some departments exceed 600-700 calls a year) we here certainly do our part.  With that being said, Station 56 broke a record this month by responding to a total of 47 fire/rescue related emergencies.  Our highest number on record that we can find was back in October of 2009 when we responded to 37 calls that month.  Even if you remove all the calls during the Hurricane Irene this past weekend we would have still ended up with 38 calls, beating the record of 37. With that being said, Manoa Fire Company is always looking for new members looking to do something fun and interesting for their community.  We here take pride in the service we delivery to the residents of Haverford Township.  If you would like to see if you have what it takes, please stop by the station any Monday night at 115 S. Eagle Rd (just south of West Chester Pike) and pick up an application.  We don't just fight fire here, we also provide half the ambulance service to the township, along with basic and advanced rescue operations.  Many of our members are trained in basic vehicle rescue, trench rescue, rope rescue, water rescue, and structural collapse rescue.  We make every effort to provide the most advanced service possible to the people of Haverford Township.  We can only hope that you wish to become a part of something special, and join Station 56 to help our fellow community members.

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HURRICANE IRENE TEARS THROUGH DELAWARE COUNTY AND SURROUNDING AREA

Sunday, August 28, 2011  As the CAT 3 Hurricane Irene slowly moved up the east coast, the entire eastern sea board from South Carolina to Maine began preparing for the worst.  As the outreaching rain fall began to strike the Carolina's it became obvious this storm was not going to back down. Sometime Saturday morning the same type of rain fall began in the Delaware Valley area.  It brought with it increasing wind and gusts and an increasing amount of rain.  As the day rolled on the weather became slowly worse as if this storm was taunting the area with it's fury.  By the afternoon, as the members of the Station 56 house were making final preparations and planning for the night ahead, we could hear on the radio the numerous emergency calls begin.  Even before dinner time Saturday multiple tree limbs down and power outages were being reported throughout the county.  As the night rolled into early morning the County Fireboard Dispatchers went into Priority Mode as there were far too many units actively responding to and dealing with emergency scenes.  The storm tossed trees around like tooth picks in some areas, while at the same time dropping massive amounts of rain onto the already saturated ground.  Around the 0600hour the majority of the storm had passed this area, but still left plenty of rain fall to come with blistering winds still blowing.  By Sunday afternoon the sun finally began to appear and the winds began to die down. An exact amount of fire emergency's handled through the county is unknown.  Station 56 was dispatched to 9 calls from Saturday afternoon till Sunday afternoon.  The types of calls included 2 Automatic Fire Alarms, 1 Building Fire Investigation, 1 Power Line Emergency, 1 Water Rescue, 1 Outside Investigation, and 3 Service Calls.  Ambulance 56 was dispatched to 2 Water Rescues, 3 Medical Service Calls, and multiple other types of medical emergency's. This month marks the busiest month ever for the Manoa Fire Company totaling 40 fire/rescue related emergency's...and this month still isn't over. To everyone out there picking up the pieces of trees and roof shingles, please be careful.  Keep in mind that much of the water will not be absorbed by the soil and must go somewhere.  Experts estimate it could take days for all the run off to make it to major rivers in the Delaware Valley.  Local creeks are very dangerous, especially hours or days after a storm like this.  Please stay safe, and contact 911 immediately if you have an emergency to report.

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RESCUE COMPANY DISPATCHED FOR THE VEHICLE INTO A BUILDING

Thursday, August 25, 2011  At 1031hours, Ambulance 56 and Medic 108 were dispatched to the 300-block of Virginia Avenue for an Accident with Injuries, with the car reported to have struck a house. Upon the arrival of EMS, it was discovered that when the car struck the house it created severe structural damage to the garage. Medic 108 requested the fire department to be dispatched to assess the damage. Chief 56 (Norman) and Haverford Car 1 (Marino) arrived and determined the garage would need to be shored up to prevent a possible collapse. Rescue 56 arrived and crews began using the structural collapse equipment to create a temporary brace for the damaged wall. Squad 56 arrived to assist with the operations. After a short time the house was deemed secure and was turned back over to the homeowner. Ambulance 56 and Medic 108 transported the injured driver to an area trauma center. Crews were in service for approximately one hour.


Unit on scene: Chief 56, Rescue 56, Squad 56, Ambulance 56, Medic 108, Haverford Car 1, HTPD units

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PROOF THAT FIRE ALARMS WORK AT THE STAPLES STORE

Friday, August 19, 2011  At 2115hours Companies 56, 58, and Ladder 35 were dispatched to 1305 West Chester Pike at the Staples store for an Automatic Fire Alarm.  Seems all too often we are responding to that building for a faulty alarm.  This time though 56-9B (Asst Chief Norman) arrived to find the entire store filled with smoke after an appliance fire occurred in the building.  The fire was extinguished just prior to his arrival and the response was held to Squad 56, Pipeline 58, and Ladder 35.  Haverford Car 1 was requested for the investigation and to assist in resetting the alarm.  It became quickly evident that an employee attempted to re-heat some pizza while it was still in the box, and the box ignited in the microwave.  The employee used an extinguisher to put the fire out, and no injuries were reported.  All units were available within the hour.

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1 ENGINE FOR HIGHWAY WASH AFTER THE MVA

Friday, August 19, 2011  At 2146hours Ambulance 34-7 and Haverford PD were alerted to an accident with injuries reported at 1150 West Chester Pike.  PD arrived and discovered one patient in serious condition.  Ambulance 34-7 was expedited and Medic 53 was added to the card.  Once the patient was transported to the hospital PD requested an engine out of the 56 house for fluids on the highway.  Squad 56 was dispatched and arrived at 2220hours.  The driver blocked the highway as the crew laid 2 bags of oil dry down.

	Damages to Newspaper Box
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ACCIDENT WITH ENTRAPMENT AT RT 3 AND EAGLE ROAD

Thursday, August 18, 2011  At 2045hours Ambulance 56-7 and PD were alerted to an accident with injuries at Rt 3 and Eagle Road.  A severe storm had just blown through the area and knocked out power to much of the area, rendering the traffic lights out of service at that intersection.  Minutes after dispatch 56-7 and Medic 108 arrived and requested a second ambulance and Company 56 for extrication.  One patient was trapped inside the 2 door coupe after being T-Boned by a commercial van.  56-9B (Asst Chief Norman) arrived and assumed West Chester Pike Command as Squad 56 arrived and began the extrication process.  The roof was removed with minimal effort and extrication was completed 13 minutes after the arrival of the Squad.  During the event Fire Police was requested to assist with traffic control as PD was spreed thin throughout the township for other traffic details.

On scene were Ambulances 56-7, 34-7, 53-7, Medics 108 and 108A, Squad 56, Rescue 56, Traffic 53 and 41, and Haverford Township Police.

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WEBSITE UPDATES

Sunday, August 14, 2011  Recently a few updates have been happening here at ManoaFire.com.  Please be sure to check out our updated Gallery Page, which has more pictures uploaded that are a little easier to navigate.  Along with that page, our Apparatus Page is constantly getting new pictures and more information.  Stay tuned for pictures of the re-chassis of one of our Ambulances and the new striping happening right now for the Chief's vehicle. As always, if you like our site or think of something we could do to improve it, please leave a message in our Guestbook.  Our website team is always looking for new pictures and stories to add, and looking ahead to see what we can change during our next website update late next year. Thanks for visiting!  Hope you enjoy the website.

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TWO EMERGENCIES FOR THE 56 HOUSE

Tuesday, July 26, 2011  The morning started at 1039 hours with Companies 56 and 35 being dispatched to 1305 West Chester Pike for a Liquid Spill/Hazmat.  The caller stated there was a small leak of unknown fluid in the parking lot near one of the business' of the Manoa Shopping Center.  Upon the arrival of Haverford Car 1 and 56-9B it was determined to be a large spill of hydraulic fluid, somewhere in the area of 55-75 gallons.  Squad 56 and Spill 35 arrived at the same time and crews began dropping oil dry to prevent the spill from continuing down towards the storm drains on the south side of the parking lot.  Some 40 bags of oil dry were used within the first 20 minutes with more on it's way.

During this incident Companies 53 and 44 were being dispatched to the intersection of Reed and Marpit Road for the accident with entrapment.  Caller stated a trash truck had rolled onto it's side crushing another vehicle beneath it.  PD arrived quickly and advised there was one person trapped and requested the Rescue Units expedite.  At 1100 hours Chief 53-9 (Reed Road Command) special requested Rescue 56 to the scene as he had heavy entrapment and needed more man power and more large scale equipment.  Chief 35-9 took over at the Hazmat and Squad 56 returned to station to staff Rescue 56.  Upon the Rescues arrival the crew began assisting Rescues 53 and 44 with establishing a plan to free the patient and getting that plan in motion.  Crews had already utilized High Pressure Air Bags and found them to not be high enough to get the job done.  A "Big Rig Wrecker" Truck was called to the scene to hoist the trash truck up and off of the sedan.  Once that was completed crews went back in to begin the process of disentangling the crushed vehicle from around the patient.  Once the patient was removed from the vehicle they were flown by PennSTAR to the local Trauma Center.  All said and done, the extrication took somewhere around an hour to complete plus clean up.  Due to the extreme heat Rehab 34 and 34-7 were requested, with the new Haverford Township Special Service Unit also responding.  In total 5 patients were transported to various hospitals.

On scene at the accident was Rescue 53, Rescue and Squad 44, Rescue 56, Ambulance's 53-7, 53-7A, 44-7, 56-7, and 34-7, Medic's 53 and 106, Rehab 34, HT Special Service Unit, DelCo Fire Police Units, and Marple PD.


Photos courtesy of Mark Sherwood, www.mfsphotos.com. 

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OVEN MALFUNCTION W/ POSSIBLE GAS LEAK INSIDE

Wednesday, July 13, 2011  Just before the dinner hour Company 56 was dispatched to Washington Ave for a Natural Gas leak inside the home.  A few days prior the company had been at this same location for an oven malfunction.  At that time the oven was determined to be unsafe for use and the gas was shut off by PECO Gas.  Upon arrival this afternoon the crew of Squad 56 investigated and found no readings for Natural Gas.  The resident was evaluated by EMS as a precaution.  After the investigation was complete it was decided to remove the problem oven from the residence.  The oven was removed by the crew of the Squad, and at about 1717hours the company was made available under the authority of Chief 56-9.  On location was 56-9, Squad 56, Ambulance 56-7, Medic 108, Haverford Car 1, HTPD, and PECO Gas.

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IT'S A BOY!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011  The members of the Manoa Fire Company would like to congratulate Firefighter John Trainer and his wife Caitlin on the birth of their son! Shane Austin Trainer was born at Lankenau Hospital on Monday night, June 13th. The little guy weighed in at 6lbs, 14oz. Both Shane and mom are doing great. We can't wait till Shane can come visit and we wish our best to the Trainer family!

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