Today, Jenn Sherlock visited King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company in preparation for the August 6-8 Keystone Firefighter Conference at the greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA.  President Bill Jenaway and Chief Jim Gallagher were interviewed as part of their advertising for the Conference.  KPVFC is honored to host the Keynote session with Chief Bobby Halton of Fire Engineering magazine, as well as a Recruitment and Retention Roundtable on the evening of Thursday, August 6!!!  All are welcome, to attend and we hope to see you then!

Tonight, members boarded Engines 47-1 and 47-2 for a unique high-rise drill at the 251 Dekalb apartment complex.  The complex is currently undergoing renovation and offered the fire company a unique training opportunity to drill on hi-rise and stand-pipe operations using a real stand-pipe system.

After a brief safety walk-through, members split crews and were “dispatched” to a reported fire on the 4th floor of the building.  Engine 47-2s crew was assigned recon and fire attack, and advanced the hi-rise packs and kit to the 3rd division.  Engine 47-1s crew was assigned to the hydrant and stand-pipe connection.  After all connections were made and a water supply was established, crews simulated searching and extinguishing the fire on the 4th division.

This was a tremendous training experience for those members who have never fought a hi-rise fire, and it showed how time and labor intensive these types of operations can be.  The officers and members would like to thank the management of 251 Dekalb Apartments for this great experience!

Around 0700 hrs on Wednesday May 20th, 47 units, along with Quint 31 (Bridgeport Fire Co. #1) responded to the Upper Merion Township Building for a building fire.  As crews were arriving on location, members of the Upper Merion Police Department reported an electrical odor in the radio dispatch room and adjoining hallway.  After a thorough investigation and walk-through of the building and roof, crews narrowed the issue down to a malfunctioning fan motor inside the hallway water fountain.  With no other issues found, all units cleared the scene.

The Officers and members would like to congratulate Phil Lamnin for successfully completing the National Firefighter 1 program at the Montgomery County Fire Academy.  Over the course of the last year, Firefighter Lamnin, along with his fellow classmates throughout the County, had spent many hours and weekends preparing to join their respective Companies as a certified Firefighter.  Phil, congratulations on a job well done!

Firefighter Lamnin accepting his National Firefighter I Certfication from Fire Academy Instructors and County Officials

KPVFC members in attendance at the graduation ceremony from Left to Right: Deputy Chief Dave Camarda, Lieutenant Alex Clark, Firefighter Phil Lamnin, Chief Jim Gallagher, and Lieutenant Rob Griffith Jr.

The members of KPVFC would like to congratulate Samuel Rapine on his appointment to the US Forest Service as a Wild land firefighter. Sam is one of our new members who joined this past year and has been aggressively pursuing his training for firefighter 1 along with his requirements as a wild land firefighter. Sam was hired as a seasonal temporary employee as a GS-3, and he will be leaving on May 15^th to help our fellow brothers and sisters’ fight the good fight out west to protect our nation’s wild life. We wish Sam all the best and of course hope for his SAFE return!

GOOD LUCK SAM!!

KPVFC Chief Jim Gallagher, with Goodwill Fire Company’s generous gift in hand, stands in front of the company’s freshly re-housed apparatus.

On the pleasant morning of May 9th, King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company had the honor of walking in the parade to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the founding of Bridgeport’s Goodwill Fire Company, Montgomery County #32. Alongside over forty other companies from the surrounding area, the trucks and engines rolled on the parade route along Bridgeport’s bustling Fourth Street by the Goodwill station itself. Along with members and family, seven shining units of apparatus took to the streets (all of which remained in service to the community, although fortunately none were needed for the duration). The parade culminated in an award ceremony in which gifts were exchanged between neighboring companies, as well as a blessing and ceremonial re-housing of the Goodwill apparatus. The result was a fun time for the community, an excellent showing for all companies involved, and most importantly a show of gratitude for the Goodwill Fire Company, whose century of outstanding service inspires us all.

This past Thursday, April 23rd, several members from King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company and Lafayette Ambulance Squad were recognized by the Upper Merion Township Board of Supervisors for their actions that resulted in saving the life of a motorist traveling on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on the morning of February 17th. Those members include the following individuals:

King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company

Lafayette Ambulance Squad

Although these incidents and situations don’t happen regularly, the early intervention, quick thinking and team work that was exhibited by these individuals made a significant difference and saved a life.  Congratulations to all involved on a job well done!

Click Here to view the website article regarding the incident on February 17, 2015

Members of King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company and Lafayette Ambulance Squad who were in attendance at the ceremony.

L to R: Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Daywalt Jr., EMT Pat Doyle, Paramedic Chris Gavin, Lieutenant Rob Griffith Jr., Lieutenant Alex Clark, Firefighter Sam Rapine, Chief Jim Gallagher, Driver Operator Joe Lunger, and Chief Fire Marshal John Waters
*Not pictured, Deputy Chief Dave Camarda

During the start of the evening rush hour on Wednesday, April 22nd, Station 47 was dispatched for a reported vehicle fire on the eastbound side of Route 422 between the PA turnpike overpass and the Route 202 and I76 off ramps.  Engine 47-1 (Lt. Clark) made the response along with Squad 47 (Asst. Chief Molchany).  Both units arrived to find the vehicle on the left shoulder well involved.  Units made quick work of the fire and performed overhaul operations before re-opening the highway and turning the incident over to the PA State Police.  The video was provided by Firefighter Rickey Martin who was on his way home from work when the call was dispatched.

MOV_9645.MOV

After an absolutely demanding first week of April, the volunteers were afforded a few days of slower calls for service.  However, starting bright and early on Monday April 13^th the break was over and the barrage of calls started coming again.  Monday we were met with 3 calls all within 2 hours that had us in service at each run.  A construction accident and subsequent fire at the King of Prussia Mall expansion project started the morning off.  3 workers were injured in an electrical incident, which also caused a small fire in a conduit system.  Crews tended to the fire as well as providing support to EMS.  The fire was easily contained and no extension was found, although a small smoke condition was evident in the Court Mall, nothing could be done with that until power was eventually restored.

Shortly after picking up from the mall, we were summoned to the Freedom Business Center for gas odor in building 2.  Upon arrival crews found a heavy odor of natural gas in the block and were also told of gas in building 3 of the complex.  After a thorough investigation, it was believed that the odor was from a Mercaptan discharge from a local plant not far from this site.  Again as crews picked up we were sent to a vehicle accident with rescue.  A tractor trailer pulled wires down on the rig and they were believed to be live.  Fire crews ascertained that the wires were in fact Verizon FIOS lines and there was no hazard.  The crews assisted the driver in getting his truck back in a safe position.

As we continued with a long weather dry spell, we were summoned to 7 more mulch fires during the week, one of which was cover by our good friends from the Radnor Fire Co.  The weekend brought 9 more runs with a wildland fire capping off the weekend.  At 11:30 AM on Sunday, April 19^th the brigade was summoned to the Valley Forge National Park in the area of Mount Joy for a woods fire.  Shortly after crews entered the park, smoke and fire could be seen as we made our trek along Outer Line Drive.  Crews would split up to attack the fire from two fronts to get the wind driven fire contained.  Squad 47 along with crews from Valley Forge Fire Co. would take the upper side of the fire and stage on Inner Line Drive as the remaining KPVFC units would attack from S Outer Line Drive.  Crews would get the upper hand on the fire after about 40 minutes and then would spend the next 1.5 hours mopping up.  Thanks to Lafayette EMS for providing a Medical Unit and some cold water for the troops.  Fires in the VFNP are not new, but they can be challenging and quick thinking by the park rangers in relaying access points to us was critical in our efforts.  The rangers provided critical information on access and topography that helped us immensely.

Once again, our volunteers set aside their personal time with family and friends on what was a beautiful spring day, to answer the bell and to continue to train.  Speaking of training, 19 of our Volunteers along with our rescue task force, attended the first night of a Basic Vehicle Rescue Refresher course held during this busy week.

Photo courtesy of Officer Timothy Oh, US National Park Ranger

Photo courtesy of Officer Timothy Oh, US National Park Ranger

Photo courtesy of Officer Timothy Oh, US National Park Ranger

Field 47 in service

Hitting those stubborn hot spots at the VFNP Fire

Overhaul at the wildland fire

Overhaul at the wildland fire

Thank you Lafayette EMS for the support, much appreciated

Radnor Quint 15 handling one of our many RT-202 mulch fires. Thanks gang.

Skills enhancement at the BVR Refresher class

BVR Refresher had 19 KP members present

On Monday, April 6, 2015, at 2317 hours, the King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Company (Station 47) was dispatched with Lafayette Ambulance Squad (Station 317) to their second vehicle rescue of the night.  Notes indicated there was a motorcycle operator trapped under another parked vehicle.  Squad 47 (Elder) arrived in under four minutes from initial dispatch and confirmed the caller’s report.  The patient was pinned between the minivan’s rear axle, his motorcycle, and the asphalt. Chief 47 (J. Gallagher), Rescue 47 (Camarda) and Field 47 (DiSanto) then arrived on-scene.  Engine 47-1 (Durland) responded to a nearby park where the crew established a helicopter landing zone so the patient could be airlifted to a level one trauma center in the City of Philadelphia.

On-scene, crews stabilized the vehicle with cribbing and deployed Paratech Maxiforce Air Lifting Bags on both sides of the vehicle in front of the rear wheels.  Two air bags were stacked on each side to ensure the maximum amount of lift needed was achievable.  In close coordination with the paramedics, rescue crews then lifted the minivan, cribbing along the way, until the motorcycle could be removed and paramedics had enough room to extricate the patient out from under the vehicle.  Rescue crews completed the incident by assisting paramedics with patient packaging and then performing a slow and coordinated lower of the minivan so as not to cause it any further damage.

While many were preparing to celebrate the upcoming religious holidays, the volunteers from the KPVFC were kept extremely busy.

It all started with simultaneous calls coming in at 10:00 AM, Wednesday, April 1^st, and steadily continued through to Tuesday morning, April 7^th.  The  calls ranged from fire alarms, vehicles fires, accidents, helicopter landing assignments, dwelling fires, a cover assignment, rescue/extrications and numerous mulch fires.

Those 32 calls spanned over a 136 hour time period.  That meant we were on a pace of a call out, on average, every 4.25 hours for some sort of assistance.  Compare that to our average of 2 calls a day and we’ve been doing 5.25 calls a day!

With the excessive dry spell and very welcomed warm weather, 11 of those calls were specifically related to mulch fires, unfortunately.

If you have ever been fortunate to visit King of Prussia, one thing you can’t help but notice is that we have an abundance of plantings in the traffic and parking lot islands and medians.  Although these beautification efforts do add charm to our commercialized community, they sure do keep us busy every spring.  These fires led us to installing a homemade “mulch” line on Engine 47-2 (see photo). Not a pretty hose pack, but very effective and it helps keeps the volunteers safe when working in traffic.

Two of our dwelling fires were directly related to fires starting in mulched flower beds.  As our health conscious efforts have led us to oblige smokers to move outdoors, this effort has increased fire responses, nationally.  It’s not our role to take sides in the smoking debate; however, we take our fire prevention efforts seriously.  That said, we would be remiss and fail our duty if we didn’t remind our community that when you do enjoy your tobacco product outside, you do have to be cautious and properly dispose of that product.  Tossing that cigarette butt in the flowers or shrubs could have serious consequences if a fire ensues.  In the pictures attached, we had two close calls on Saturday where discarded cigarettes caused these fires that started to attack the homes.  Fortunately, in both cases the homeowners saw the fires very early and contacted 911 for a fire department response.

Of course this overwhelming pace made sure to interrupt our Easter Sunday repast with 4 calls right at the prime of times!  It’s ok, ham is good in a sandwich too.

However; not to be outdone imposing on our Easter, two very serious motor vehicle accidents sure did ruin our efforts to root on the next NCAA basketball champ.  Monday evening, shortly before tip-off, the volunteers from station 47 were sent to a vehicle accident with a possible car fire.  Minutes into the response, crews were informed that the call was now going to need a rescue response as well.  The crews went right to work with a door removal and a dash push to extricate the entrapped driver of one of the vehicles involved.

As the crews got home and settled in to catch the remainder of the 2^nd half of the game, again the excitement would be disrupted.  With just a minute thirty left in the game, rescue box 56-58 was struck for Jasper Rd and Bernard Drive for a motorcycle accident with entrapment.  Crews would find a single motorcycle operator trapped under the rear of a parked minivan.  See the follow-up web story to be posted soon on this successful rescue.

Crews finally completed their clean up and equipment restoration at 12:30 AM to get home and be awoken at 6:00 AM for a truck for a truck fire on the PA Turnpike.  The minor brake fire was handled with ease and crews returned just in time to start heading to work.

All though this was an anomaly in our normal workload pattern, the dedication and commitment of the brigade was steadfast through this barrage of calls.

A Chronological Listing of the Calls

Deck fire hit with the green line. Close call here

Another close call here

UMPD jumping in with the green line, Easter afternoon.

We were waved in by several movie goers to this one.

Eng 47-2 and the mulch line in service

Smoke showing

Another one conquered

The RT-202 median fires, these were like the movie Ground Hog Day! They just kept repeating themselves.

Back on RT-202 AGAIN!

Engine 47-2 with the bumper mulch line or as we call it, The KoP Bundle!

On Wednesday evening, April 1^st, three structures slated for demolition made what would be a great evening of hands-on training for the firefighters from station 47.

What was once a quiet residential neighborhood with homes fronting Dekalb Pike (formally known as Swedesford Road), was turned into commercial properties.  This commercial boom occurred in the late 50’s and throughout most of the 1960s and 1970s, as King of Prussia would turn from farming to a growing community full of homes and commerce.  As times change once again and our economy is starting to grow, KoP is starting to see a re-development phase as we tear down the old and start anew.

In keeping with past practice, the Fire Marshal’s Office in UpperMerionTownship works with developers to allow these buildings to be used for training before demolition.  In many cases, both fire and police services get to train in these acquired properties in an effort to hone our skills and stay sharp by practicing our craft.

Starting over the weekend, several of the officers photographed the site, walked through the properties and sketched out what would be a well thought out training plan.  Monday and Tuesday several of our volunteers prepared the site, eliminating any unsafe conditions and adding special effects to enhance the training experience.

On Wednesday evening, 22 members took to these structures for a full evening of hands-on training evolutions and demonstrations. One demonstration provided the use of a power saw to remove an American series 2000 “hockey puck” lock.  The second demonstration examined the use of a power saw to force entry into a set of steel exterior “Bilco Style” cellar doors.

Crews were then broken into three training teams and were assigned to the following training scenario groups.

A] Commercial roof ventilation practices using cut off style rescue saws.

B] Residential roof ventilation practices using chain saws.

C] Hose line advancement using the recently incorporated “Minuteman” hose load.  This was combined with hose stretching into a residential and commercial property as well as incorporating some forced entry techniques.

Crews were then reassembled and reviewed the proper technique for Vent Entry and Search operations as well as also participating in the entry component and searching operation.  Several members were able to capitalize on some pump familiarization on Squad (rescue-engine) 47.

Along with the 22 King of Prussia members, we also had 2 firefighters from Goodwill Fire Company of Bridgeport and 1 guest observer, Jacquie Mitchell.

Ms. Mitchell has been working with the KPVFC for the past several months in developing and maintaining a physical workout regiment in an effort to help us stay fit for duty.  One of her concerns was understanding what we did on the emergency scenes.  That said, we fitted Jacquie with a set of turnouts and she engaged in training alongside the brigade.  Being able to watch us work will help with fine tuning our program to best fit our firefighters.

The officers and members want to thank our neighbors in the Valley Forge Homes community, directly behind where we trained.  Specifically those on residing on Crockett and Shaffer Roads.  Although we made a lot of noise and stayed later then we would have liked, the training was invaluable to us and needed for our success.  We thank you for your understanding and patience while we performed this most important training last evening.

Examining the cutting of heavy duty locks

Crews learn how to make entry into steel cellar doors using a power saw

Review of ground ladder operations

Residential roof ventilation

Residential roof vetilation

Crews completing ventilation practices on a commercial roof

Firefighters using forcible entry techniques to enter the structure

Engine crews reviewing hose advancement methods

Crews completing the Vent Entry and Search task

Pump operation with Squad 47

In the early morning hours of Sunday, March 22, Lower Providence Fire Department requested both the King of Prussia and Collegeville Fire Companies to assist them with a low angle rescue incident on the Lower Providence Township section of Rt. 422 Westbound.  A vehicle with three passengers on board traveled off the highway and landed on its roof at the bottom of an embankment.  Access to the accident and the patients was difficult due to extremely muddy conditions, natural brush, and the steep incline of the embankment.  Rescue 47 (Elder), Engine 47-2 (Molchany), and Chief Gallagher made the response.  King of Prussia personnel split up and worked at the top and bottom of the embankment.  The top side crew rigged a 3:1 z-rig mechanical advantage system, while the crew at the bottom of the embankment assisted the paramedics with patient access and packaging.  Personnel from Collegeville’s Rescue 34 also assisted in the operations.  All three patients were transported to a nearby trauma center for treatment.