MVA Ends February’s Call Total at 20
February 28 2006- An Motor Vehicle Accident on Raymondskill Rd. near Cobb Rd. at 1326 hours brought February’s call total to 20 for the fire personnel at Dingman Township. The accident was reported as having one person unconscious prompting a medical helicopter to be placed on stand-by. 26 Rescue, 26 Engine, and Ambulance 268 arrived with 8 personnel to find a car off the road that struck several large rocks and small trees. The sole occupant was removed from the vehicle by a Pike County Sheriff Deputy due to her suffering some distress from the airbag deployment smoke. EMS personnel evaluated the driver finding only minor injuries, cancelled the helicopter stand-by. Fire personnel checked for hazards, assisted the EMS crew, and controlled traffic. Personnel operated just under an hour.
Late Morning Chimney Fire
February 28 2006- Personnel were dispatched to a chimney fire on Cree Trail in Conashaugh Lakes at 1029 hours this morning. Personnel arrived on scene to find two of Conashaugh Lakes Maintenance workers knocking down the fire with a couple of fire extinguishers. Inside the house crews removed the remainder of the burning coal from the stove and checked for extension with the TIC. Crews on the exterior opened up the stucco chimney enclosure to find a smoldering fire at the roof line that was quickly handled. Eight personnel operated 26 Engine, 26 Tanker, and Ambulance 268 for 90 minutes.
Spring Brush Fire Season Starts Early
February 25 2006- Personnel were alerted for a brush fire across from the firehouse on Log Tavern Rd. at 1522 hours. Units arrived in the area to find a brush fire in a remote marsh area near the new Dingman Township park property. As units arrived on the ground a Pa. State Police helicopter patrolling the area flew over head to assess the situation. After the helicopter’s initial assessment of 1 to 1.5 acres burning the helicopter touched down near the scene and took Chief Mikulak airborne for a bird’s eye view of scene. Due to inaccessibility to the fire by brush trucks, crews had to either walk in or load equipment onto 26 ATV to work at extinguishing the fire. Crews from the Dept. of Forestry, Delaware Fire Company, and Hemlock Farms Fire & Rescue Company were requested to assist with the labor intensive firefight. Over 25 members from the 4 agencies worked for just over 90 minutes in cold, muddy, and often deep marsh to extinguish the fire. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Dept. of Forestry personnel.
Ladder Assist to Area Business
February 21 2006- Personnel took 26 Ladder over to Independence True Value on Rt. 739 this morning to give them a hand replacing the lanyard on their flagpole. Independence True Value and the Luhr’s Family provided us literally hundreds of pallets last fall during our structural burn sessions with the Hemlock Farms Fire & Rescue Co.
Snow Squall = Accidents
February 18 2006- The volunteers from Station 26 had a busy few hours as a snow squall led to near white out conditions causing several accidents in the county. Shortly after 0930 hours, the Hemlock Farms Fire & Rescue Co. and Blooming Grove Fire Co. were dispatched to a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 84 westbound just before the Lord’s Valley Exit. Hemlock Farms Fire Chief Robert Palumbo arrived on the western most part of an accident that involved several dozen vehicles and requested additional EMS resources from surrounding departments. Dingman Township answered the call sending both ambulances to the scene. EMS crews from Station 26 treated and transported eight victims of the accident to Bon Secours Hospital. While the EMS crews were out on the Interstate, the Fire Station was dispatched to a motor vehicle accident on Rt. 739 at Sunrise Lakes entrance (Pictured Above). Personnel arrived on scene to find a vehicle into a tree with moderate damage. An ambulance from Delaware Township Ambulance Corps treated one passenger for a minor injury. Units cleared the Rt. 739 accident within an hour. The ambulances were back in the station just before noon.
Dive Team sees some work
While it has been relatively quiet the past week in Dingman Township itself the volunteers have kept busy elsewhere in the county. On Wed. 02/15/06 the dive team was requested to assemble at the station for a possible response to an overturned boat with an occupant missing on the Delaware River near the hamlet of Mill Rift in Westfall Township. Due to nightfall setting in and subfreezing conditions the search was called off that night and scheduled to begin again the next day at 0900 hours. On Thursday 02/16/2006 crews again converged on the Delaware River to find and recover the victim of Wednesday’s overturned boat. Dingman Township sent a diver to assist with the recovery effort. Shortly after noon the body of the 19 year old victim was located and all personnel were released shortly thereafter. On Friday 02/17/2006 the Dive Team was responding again, this time to Birchwood Lakes in Delaware Township for a reported male through the ice. The 11:51 a.m. call was upgraded to not one but three people in through the ice after two neighbors attempted to rescue the first victim only to find themselves victims of the same fate. Personnel from both Delaware and Dingman FDs arrived and began the rescue effort. While Delaware’s personnel concentrated on the original victim, Dingman Fire Lt. Chris Smyth donned a cold water suit and was able to successfully remove the two would be rescuers from the water. Once the two neighbors were out of harm’s way and in the hands of EMS, all crews turned their attention to the original victim who proved to be the most difficult to rescue. With the additional resources and fresh personnel arriving from Bushkill, Milford, and Westfall Dive Teams to relieve the now exhausted Delaware and Dingman rescuers, a flat bottom boat located near the scene was placed in service by the Westfall Team. With the boat, Westfall’s personnel were able to reach the last victim and Delaware rescuer assisting him and bring all of them back to shore. Two of the three original victims were transported by Med E Vac Helicopter from the scene to the hospital for treatment of hypothermia. One Delaware Firefighter was also transported to a local hospital for evaluation and was treated and released.
Second Accident in as many days, near Gold Key
Feb. 13&14 2006- Log Tavern Rd. near the entrance of Gold Key Lake has proven to be the hot spot the past two days producing two accidents for the Dingman Township Volunteers. The first accident occurred at 0714 hours on the 13th right at the entrance of Gold Key Lake. This two vehicle accident produced no injury but required some traffic control while the Pa. State Police sorted out the details of the accident. The second accident occurred on the 14th at 1047 hours just east of Gold Key Lake. 26 Rescue and Ambulance 268 responded with 6 volunteers to find another two vehicle accident. EMS Personnel treated and transported two of the three people involved to area hospitals with minor injuries. Fire Personnel checked for hazards and controlled traffic while the State Police investigated the accident. Personnel were on scene for just under 90 minutes.
Dingman Township VFD awakens to 3 early morning calls
Feb. 8 2006- Dingman Township personnel were alerted for a series of calls this morning. Beginning at 0523 hours 26 Ladder and Ambulance 268 with 6 personnel responded to a possible electrical fire in a residence on Sylvan Dr. in Laurel Hills. Personnel arrived on scene just as a snow squall began in the area and found an odor of electrical smoke in the kitchen area of the structure. After checking the residence with the TIC the problem was traced back to the refrigerator. While picking up from that call personnel were alerted to a motor vehicle accident on Log Tavern Rd. east of the fire station. The four personnel standing by at the station responded and found a sedan had slid on the icy roadway striking a large rock and dirt embankment causing significant damage to the vehicle. A quick assessment of the scene found no injuries but some motor vehicle fluids down. Crews controlled traffic and fluids while Pa. State Police investigated. At 0718 hours 26 Engine was on the road again to assist Milford Fire Dept. with a motor vehicle accident on Rt. 2001 between Raymondskill Rd. & Log Tavern Rd. Milford’s Rescue Truck arrived on scene and held only Milford units on the call and returned Dingman Township’s Engine. All equipment and personnel were back in the station at 0806 hours.
