Back to back auto fires
On May 30 around 1633 hrs, the engine company was alerted for an auto fire at the intersection of Longmeadow Rd and Paradise Church Rd. Rescue Engine 272 arrived to find an auto fully involved. The fire was extinguished and the scene was turned over to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
On May 31 around 1545 hrs, a box alarm was transmitted for the Sheetz Gas Station at the intersection of Longmeadow Rd and Pennsylvania Ave for an auto fire with extension to the fuel pumps. Rescue Engine 272 responded with 5, the Truck Company responded with 5, and Lt. Turner responded in the duty vehicle. Upon arrival of the Longmeadow Volunteers, we found that a Washington County Sheriffs Deputy had extinguished the fire, preventing a conflagration. Lt. Turner held RE 272 and returned the rest of the box alarm. Contrary to popular belief, even though the Sheriffs Deputies are going to act like fireman, we won't start acting like the police and lock people up.
Mutual Aid to Frederick County for a Shed Fire
Around 1230 hrs, units from Frederick County and Washington County were dispatched to 4610 Foxville Rd for a shed fire in Wolfsville. Units arrived to find a 30' X 100' "SHED" with fire showing. The original assignment did not include the Truckies from the Meadow, but because the city of Hagerstown declined to respond on the call due to a truck being out of service, Truck 27 was dispatched on the call. Upon our arrival, we assisted with extinguishment and overhaul of the "SHED" (which in reality was a large workshop). The truck company operated on the scene for approximately 2 hours before being released to head home and respond on a mulch fire. We definitely will be to respond to any box alarm when the city turns them down.
Truck 27 in staging. Truck company utilizing hose lines to extinguish the fire.
Special thanks to the Washington County Photo Team for these pictures
Standby For MSP, FBI, ATF
At about 6am, Longmeadow was asked to standby for several law enforcement agencies as they searched a local house. The fun began for the police around 2am when they executed a search warrant. Upon further investigation, large quantities of explosives along with several illegal weapons were found in the residence. The lead agency decided to back out and let the MSP Bomb Squad robot complete the search. That brought the Rescue-Engine and a medic unit out of Community Rescue Service to stand by. Through out the morning, at least 4 firefighters remained on the scene, while several others remained in Paramount. Check out the NBC 25 website for more info...
On a side note, the law enforcement personnel and firefighters alike all appreciated the use of the Washington County Rehab Unit. This unit is staffed by dedicated volunteers who, just like the rest of the County, experience times when drivers can be hard to come by. Thanks to the Washington County DFES Technicians who drove the unit to the scene...
DFES Tech. Adam Hopkins
Busy Day...
After a rough start at 5:30am, the Meadow rebounded to handled 9 calls for the day. The day started with an alert to transfer to Clear Spring while they operated on a house fire. Due to staffing shortages, we were unable to commit an additional crew out of our area. 2 Medic Assist calls would follow and were handled by the 9 firefighters now on station. At 2:55pm, Longmeadow was alerted for the Engine Company to transfer to Leitersburg (Co. 9) as they worked a house fire in Franklin County, PA. Engine 27-1 responded with 4 firefighters. About 20 minutes later, Franklin Co. requested the Truck to transfer to Waynesboro while they were on the same fire. Chief Eckstine confirmed that there was enough manpower to cover the Meadow while both units were gone, then the Truck responded with four under his direction. The remaining crew handled another Medic Assist with 3 firefighters while the crew of 3 from PA Avenue remained on standby.