Archive for March 2018

Town Hall to be held tomorrow night at the firehouse

Posted on March 28, 2018 by

In pursuit of keeping the community informed of the daytime staffing solutions that have been presented to our fire board, the FCFD will be conducting a town hall meeting.  The meeting, conducted by the firefighters will be held on Thursday, March 29 at 7:00pm.

The members of the Fredericktown Community Fire District welcome you to your firehouse, 139 Columbus Road to listen to concerns from the community, talk about the current situation, share the proposed solution, and answer questions.

After the town hall session, firefighters will be on hand to tour attendees through the firehouse.

 

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Fire destroys Lucerne Road Barn

Posted on March 28, 2018 by

CH411, E419, E413, T417, R415, and G414 were dispatched at 4:18pm on Tuesday evening to the 14000 block of Lucerne Road in Wayne Township on the report of a fully engulfed barn fire with an exposure nearby.  Tankers from College Township and the Big Walnut Joint Fire District (Morrow County) responded mutual-aid on the call

When CH411 arrived to scene, he found a full engulfed barn fire, roughly 20×30 that was mostly on the ground with a home nearby to the north.  Two 1 ¾” attack lines were stretched from E419, and the incoming crews worked to coordinate fire suppression.  Crews worked to tear apart the piles of metal siding and wooden structure to get access the fire burning underneath.

Water supply was established using a hydrant at the nearby Delco Water plant on Lucerne Road.  Tankers were used to shuttle water to the scene.

The original call on the fire was from the neighbor.  No one was at the property at the time of the fire.  The cause of the fire is undetermined.  The structure and contents were a total loss.

In total the FCFD had 14 firefighters and one cadet respond to the call. All units were back in quarters by 6:06pm.

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Berlin Township Trash fire burns out of control

Posted on March 27, 2018 by

CH411, G412, and G414 were dispatched at 6:27pm on Monday evening to the 11000 block of Yankee Street in Berlin Township on the report of a trash fire.

When CH411 arrived to scene, he found a trash fire that had gotten out of control and had burned roughly a half acre and was still moving. G414 was used for suppression, and the crew utilized a rake to break up any debris that was still on fire.

The occupants at the property were advised of the Ohio burning laws.

In total the FCFD had nine firefighters respond to the call. All units were back in quarters by 7:09pm.

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FCFD Divers get tangled up in training

Posted on March 26, 2018 by

Divers with the Fredericktown Community Fire District took part in a slightly different training than usual on Saturday at the firehouse. No, the department has not added a pool to the facility, but rather the firefighters setup one of the portable tanks used to supply water on the fire ground and utilized it for a training area. Underwater in the photos are FCFD divers Ben Beever and Tom Durbin. At the communications is diver Lt. Kevin Suain.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), one of the leading dangers that divers can deal with is becoming entangled in something while in the water. Search lines, wires, debris, and aquatic plants are all possibilities that can cause them to get hung up. Unlike a fire scene where firefighters can get grouped into rescue teams, the availability of rescue divers is harder to come by.

After getting geared up the divers entered the very shallow water and had their facemasks obscured to disorient them similar to being under water. In waters throughout the fire district, the majority have very little visibility, especially once a diver comes in contact with silt in the area and stirs it up. Once under the water in the portable tank, the divers kept communicating with a dive tender by utilizing tethered communications, updating on progress and likewise the tender advising what he saw as well. Those helping with the exercise would continually tangle the divers in different manners to challenge their skills to not only recognize the emergency, but also work to free themselves and keep calm during the process.

The FCFD area has 630 acres of public recreational lakes, not including rivers, streams, ponds, and quarries that it is also responsible for protecting and responding to. Utilizing two different types of boats, a dive rescue trailer, and a variety of safety equipment, the dive team is available by mutual-aid anywhere they are called.

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FCFD mutual aid to Lundy Lane

Posted on March 26, 2018 by

CH411, E419, T417 were dispatched at 2:08am on Monday morning to the 7000 block of Lundy Lane in Liberty Two on the report of residential structure fire. This was a mutual-aid call with the Mount Vernon Fire Department.

All FCFD units were cancelled while enroute to the scene. The FCFD had 9 personnel respond to the call. All FCFD units were back in quarters by 2:28am.

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Members get a refresher on the MARCS system

Posted on March 23, 2018 by

On Thursday night for regular training, our personnel took a refresher training on the MARCS Radio system utilized with Knox County and some surrounding counties. Teaching the course was Arlin Bradford from VASU Communications.

The MARCS radio is the lifeline for our firefighters, proper use and understanding is necessary. A great number of questions were generated throughout the evening as Arlin went over current knowledge and upcoming changes that will help in running with mutual-aid departments.

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Did you know? Two month wrap-up

Posted on March 9, 2018 by

Did you know? During the first two months of 2018 the FCFD responded to a total of 39 calls? During the weekday hours our response time to get the first truck out the door was 8.5 minutes, and 15.06 before the first one arrived on scene.

To compare numbers, on the weekend the numbers are vastly different. During the weekend (daytime hours) our response time to get the first truck out the door is 3.5 minutes and 6.5 minutes before the first one arrived on scene.

Daytime hours are our most difficult time due to more and more responders working outside of the district. Over the course of the last 10-15 years the makeup of the ranks have changed.

This is a trend that has been monitored by leadership and presented to the board of trustees during the process of planning for daytime staffing. Last week in Morris Township it was again presented to the public.

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