Emergency Responses

08/23/08- Tragedy strikes in Silver Spring Twp as a mobile home erupts in flame on a Saturday morning. First arriving units found the home heavily involved with no possibility of entry, and a frantic mother in the front yard. Tragically her fears were confirmed only after she was taken by Life Lion to Hershey Med, when her 24 year old son was discovered inside the charred home. Note in the photos the heat was so intense it buckled and twisted both frame rails under the kitchen area. Responders contended with rural water movement, a lengthy 5 inch hoselay, restricted access, a ruptured burning oil tank nearly full, and heavy fire load inside the home. The mother was eventually flown to Lehigh Valley Burn Center in critical condition, and the State Police Fire Marshall as well as the coroner's office are conducting an investigation. Many thanks to the various mutual aid companies who assisted us at this tragic event.

 

07/14/08- The good news is you live in a pretty safe community when we don't have a high-intensity call for almost two months. I-81 southbound, Tanker 31 assists Company 30 with a vehicle overturned. Reported with multiple ejection, arriving crews found only one patient ejected. Life Lion was brought in directly on the Interstate, blew our cones past the guardrail and down the hill. Chief 2, move your head, the LZ can't see the helicopter for the glare.....

 

05/20/08- Overturned vehicle in Wal-Mart parking lot? Did I hear that right? Sure did. First arriving units found that the driver of the vehicle fled the scene after somehow managing to roll his vehicle in a parking lot. Both the driver and a passenger were apprehended nearby a short time afterwards. Yes, that is a Mercedes folks.

 

 

05/15/08- Carlisle Pike in front of Lawrence Chevrolet, motor vehicle crash. Debris and horizontal victims everywhere! Command 31 works with the medic and other responding units to sort it all out. In the end, all minor injuries, but at one point we had 6 BLS and 2 ALS responding and aeromedical on standby. We ended up combining transports and only using 5 BLS for 7 patients. We're still not clear on what happened, but it is believed that one vehicle lost control and caused all the damage. Note utility pole sheared off. Many thanks to Medic 86 for assisting in the restoration of order at this chaotic scene.

 

 

05/07/08- Aspiring Firefighter Sam beats us to the punch, knocking down this garden tractor fire behind his shop prior to our arrival with a 120 year old dry chem extinguisher. I just wish I was there to see the bucket brigade that followed. Light overhaul from 31/33 completed the extinguishment. Good work Sammy. By the way, membership is only $12 to apply.

 

 

04/18/2008- Major Incident! Chief 131 witnessed a dump truck loaded with soil cross the center line and t-bone into a tanker truck carrying 8000 gallons of gasoline. A massive gas spill ensued, and the driver of the dump truck was confined. Upon gaining consciousness, the driver managed to free himself from the wreckage, with slight assistance. First arriving crews secured a safety master stream on the incident, followed by a foam blanket. The area was secured, and the haz-mat team arrived to mitigate the spill. Both drivers were transported with minor injuries. This was one spark away from being a national headline!

 

 

03/28/08-2008 may very well be the year of the Class 4. In this horrific crash a single vehicle lost control on State Road just  prior to the 90 degree turn, causing the third fatal crash in the township in as many months. The vehicle left the road and struck the corner of a large stone barn, overturning and careening across wood and stone portions of fence. One of the occupants was flown, one was not. One witness stated the vehicle was racing another car.

 

 

03/27/08-After a slowdown in calls, things heat up when Chief 131 gets a ribbing for arriving with "a bunch of stuff on fire", turned out to be true! Crews quickly extinguished the dump truck, contained the blaze and maintained a perimeter until heavy equipment arrived to break apart the burning round bales. Many thanks to Souders Farms and Stoner's Landscaping for very prompt delivery of their equipment to help out. Once the tractors commenced, a layer of Class A foam was applied for good measure. Lots of hose to clean up! Thanks also to the various mutual aid departments who responded for tankers, and for brush trucks when we thought the Mini-Pumper was stuck. We won't mention any names, Bob.

 

03/01/08-Snow. Rollover. Again. Please slow down people. The only thing this driver managed to do different is miss the utility poles. Driver was GOA (gone, out of the area) on arrival. On a side note, boy is that one ugly Deputy Chief. Good thing he's smart...

02/27/08-A roof flap is the order of the day for this overturned on Wertzville. No major injuries, but yet another snow related crash, and another sheared utility pole. Keeping score? Since 02/02/08 that's three sheared utility poles, and more importantly, solid objects 4, cars 0.

02/23/08- Crews responded to a report of a truck fire and actually found a truck on fire! First in POV personnel stretched a line from Engine 31 upon its arrival, and attack ready members of Company 33 made short work of the cab fire. Great teamwork for fast knockdown!

 

02/18/08- Route 114- Life is crazy on the street-Non-injury debris removal call, as we were set up a driver waffled a traffic cone, nearly backed into our traffic unit, and almost hit our Fire Police Captain. Shortly thereafter the Silver Spring Police ordered the individual out of the car somewhat more forcefully than we felt was warranted for running over a cone. Turns out the Kwik-Fill gas station had been robbed, and they felt this driver may have been fleeing the robbery, through the accident scene. After yanking the hapless individual out of the car and hooking him up, it was discovered that he was just another happy drunk in the wrong place at the wrong time. The beer cans in the photos are from his vehicle, not the vehicles involved in the original accident. The cone was fine, but we had to dispose of SP31-1, as he had tire tracks all over him and a busted wheel.

 

02/16/08- Second time we waived the helicopter off in two weeks. Bernheisel Bridge Road, 33 box, another fatal. New Kingstown was good enough to cover a call for us on our banquet night, so we were very happy to return the favor Saturday night when the call comes in for this overturned vehicle, somewhere in left field in the softball fields off Bernheisel. Vehicle destroyed the pole, compromising high tension lines that fed the Pike from I-81 to nearly 114. The outage compromised traffic lights, businesses and homes for quite a distance. From the picture of the pole, you can just barely see the roof of the vehicle way over the horizon. Obviously speed was a factor. Frankly, for a Fiero, it held up pretty well considering the massive forces at hand. Get the hint folks. SPEED KILLS. Solid Objects 3, Cars 0.

02/12/08- Wertzville Road, vehicle overturned, single occupant, no injuries, except of course the pole. Patron was on his way home for lunch in snowy conditions, and being a great guy he left the four wheel drive vehicle home for his family to use. Solid Objects 2, Cars 0. Getting the hint yet? These trees and poles will really ruin your day folks.

 

 

02/02/08- Hogestown Road-In this fatal crash, an elderly gentleman is suspected of having a medical issue prior to glancing off a tree, then colliding head on into a large tree. Note steering wheel displacement and damage to dash. Incredible amount of displacement in engine compartment as well. Solid objects 1, Cars 0.

 

 

01/02/08-Route 114 at Technology Drive Crash with dual entrapment- One party in each vehicle required extrication on this serious incident. 4 patients overall with two Class 1 trauma patients kept us busy! One occupant flown out on Life Lion. VERY quick extrication.

 

12/30/07- Wertzville Road at Miller's Gap, Crash with entrapment, two vehicles-First arriving units find entrapment in this vehicle, with the driver's side inaccessible and the passenger side heavily damaged. Crews performed a quick extrication with assistance from Company 33 by removing the passenger side front door, then removing the roof. Patient was then extricated vertically. Alcohol was suspected to be involved in the crash.

 

12/29/07-Warehouse Fire! Exposure issues at this fully involved warehouse on Locust Point Road got everyone's attention. Water supply was tricky, but crews got control and limited the damage, also preserving the integrity of all exposures. Good teamwork with mutual aid departments and patience with a finicky water source pay off. Note the entire aluminum wall glowing from the heat retained in this all-metal structure. At the end the weary 31 crew pauses for a group photo. Also note Loo's last job as Loo. Congrats on promotion to Captain, Barry.

 

12/28/07-STRUCTURE FIRE! Dispatched as a garage fire, PD on scene same time as Chief 31, all reporting heavy fire in an attached garage. With the garage fully involved, and extension well in progress, Chief 31 wisely has first arriving Engine 31 pull a 2 1/2 CAFS attack line. Our first real CAFS knockdown, and BOY DOES THIS STUFF WORK! Super knockdown with the big line, excellent work by all mutual aid departments at aggressively stopping this fire in its tracks. Nice job guys. Sorry, our guys were busy and did not get good fire pics. If anyone has better pics, please e-mail to chief131@silverspringfire.org so that I may post them here. Cause of the fire is still pending.

 

12/13/07- Live wires arcing on Miller's Gap Road- The first of the "big storms" fizzles, but the ice causes some issues. As of 1700hrs our company has run three calls for power lines down. Arriving crews found this show on Miller's Gap. During investigation, large tree branches were crashing down around us constantly. Quite unnerving.

 

 

11/19/07- Sample Bridge Road- Quick resident action saves the day! The quick thinking resident took all the right actions when he went for a drink around 10 p.m. and discovered this water tank melting and burning in his basement. Notification to 911, a few buckets of water to slow the fire, and evacuate the family. Used negative pressure ventilation, house was charged with toxic fumes from the burning plastic. At 3 a.m. this may have been a very different event. Funny how B McD is always in front of the camera....