First Due House Fire in Russellville
 
By Assistant Fire Chief Sam Terry
April 30, 2013
 

***WITH AUDIO***

Fire Box 2104

At 0643 hours, the Union Fire Company No. 1 and the Cochranville Fire Company (27) was alerted for a reported house on fire in the 200 block of Old Limestone Road in the Russellville section of Upper Oxford Township.

Engine 27-2 was the first to arrive reporting smoke showing. The Engine pulled into the driveway and the crew deployed an 1.75" into the house.

Assistant 21 (Terry) arrived immediately after and established the "Old Limestone Command" and requested the Box to be filled. This added the Bart Township Fire Company (51) and the West Grove Fire Company (12/22/32).

Engine 21-1 (Capt. Obenchain) arrived and took the end of the driveway. The crew stretched a 5" supply line to Engine 27-2 and then went into the scene and deployed a second 1.75" handline.

Crews encountered intense heat and smoke throughout the house as they attempted to advance. Due to the interior conditions, both crews backed out and began an exterior attack.

Command requested the Second Alarm and two additional Tankers. This alerted additional units from West Grove, the Quarryville Fire Company (57), and the Christiana Fire Company (52).

Ladder 21 (FF Woolston) arrived and the crew brought ground ladders into the scene. The Truck crew then went to the roof for ventilation.

Additional apparatus arrived and staged along Old Limestone Road and sent their crews into the scene. Crews were quickly put to work completing various tasks around the fire ground.

Ambulance 22-1 (West Grove) and Medic 94-1 (SCCEMS) were added to assist with Rehab.

As the crews continued to work and rotate through the Rehab, the manpower pool was depleted. Command requested the standby units from Station 21 to the scene. This alerted Engine 25-2 (Longwood) and Truck 42 (Gap).

Crews worked for several hours throughout the house exposing and extinguishing hidden fires and removing items from both floors to prevent future fire spread.

The incident was placed under control and the Chester County and Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshals Offices investigated the incident.

Engine 6 (Perryville, MD), Tower 50 (Willow Street), Tanker 36 (Po-Mar-Lin), and Paramedic 892 (Rising Sun, MD) transferred to Station 21 for the duration of the incident.

The final units were clear at 1201 hours.

Fire Audio courtesy of Firegroundaudio.com
http://firegroundaudio.com/audio/Chesco/04-30-13-Upper-Oxford-Twp-Old-Limestone-Rd.mp3

 
Units: Engine 21-1, Ladder 21, Squad 21, Ambulance 21-2, Assistant 21
 
Mutual Aid: Engine 27-2, Engine 27-5, Rescue 27, Utility 27, Engine 51-1, Engine 51-2, Tanker 51, Rescue 21, Ladder 21, Tanker 21, Ambulance 22-1, Engine 57-4, Rescue 57, Tanker 57, Truck 57, Tanker 52-1, Tanker 52-2, Engine 813, Engine 25-2, Truck 42, Medic 94-1, FM101, FM102, PSPFM