| Box 2159
At 1125 hours, the Union Fire Company No. 1, along with the Chester County Hazardous Materials Team (Station 15) and SCCEMS (Medic 94), was alerted for a reported Hazardous Materials Incident on Arbour Court in the Nottingham Towers apartment complex in East Nottingham Township.
Responding units were advised by the Chester County Fireboard that they had received reports of a chlorine leak at the facility.
Engine 21-1 (Lt. Slauch) was the first arriving unit reporting a visible vapor cloud around a shed at the front south/west corner of the complex. Engine 21-1 staged short of the scene until advised.
Chief 21 (Vining) arrived and established the "Nottingham Towers Command" in the nearby parking lot of the State Line Baptist Church. The incident was located so close to the Pennsylvania/Maryland line, that the majority of the operations and apparatus staging was done in the state of Maryland.
Upon further investigation and referencing the material in the DOT Guide book, it was determined that the entire complex and surrounding nearby homes would need to be evacuated. With that decision, the Command requested that the box be upgraded to the Structure Assignment and requested two additional Tankers.
This requested re-alerted Station 21 and added the Community Fire Company of Rising Sun, MD (Station 8), the Robert Fulton Fire Company (Station 5-13), the West Grove Fire Company (Stations 12/22), the Cochranville Fire Company (Station 27).
The crews from Engine 21-1 and Rescue 21 deployed a 3" line into the field on the south side of the incident and gated it down in 1.75" handlines and began evacuating the buildings. The handlines were used to disperse the vapors.
Water Supply, using Engine 21-2 and Tanker 21, supplied water from the shuttle Tankers via a 5" supply line to Engine 21-1.
Rescue 27 was utilized to refill air cylinders.
The Chester County HazMat Team arrived and researched the chemical involved before suiting up and performing their duties of controlling and containing the chemical.
The incident was placed under control with the final units clear of the scene at 1609 hours.
Engine 25-2 (Longwood) transferred to Station 21 for the duration of the incident. |
