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CREWS TAKE ADVANTAGE
OF WARM WEATHER TO MAKE THE APPARATUS SHINE
Monday, May 6th - For this evening drill, members took a night off
from training and instead worked on washing and cleaning the apparatus.
With the upcoming parade season and nice weather, members wanted to take
advantage to make the apparatus shine.
JUNIOR FIREFIGHTER
TRAINING ON HOSE LINE ADVANCEMENT
Sunday, May 5th - With the recently good weather in the area, some
of the Junior Firefighters met up at Station 47 this afternoon to
learn some new hose line advancement techniques.
RESCUE TRAILER 46
RECEIVES GRAPHICS
Friday, May 3rd - For the past several days, the new rescue
trailer has been over at Octane Graphics receiving the recently
approved graphics. Along with the graphics to match the apparatus
including the # 46 in the middle to represent WRFD's designation as
Erie County Station 46, the WRFD website address along with "Special
Operations" were placed on the sides of the trailer. On the rear door
of the trailer was the game Maltese cross graphic along with
reflective chevrons. Special thanks to Octane Graphics for their work.
THURSDAY EVENING
VEHICLE ACCIDENT WITH REPORT OF ENTRAPMENT AT ROUTE 20 & MILLFAIR RD
Thursday, May 2nd - This evening, units responded to Route 20 and
Millfair Road for a vehicle accident with possible entrapment. First
units on location reported 2 vehicles with moderate damage with
multiple patients. Engine 474 arrived on location and went to work on
patient care and removal. Engine 474 also pulled a safety line. Engine
472 arrived on location and the crew from 472 assisted with patient
care and removal. After the patients were turned over to MPS, the
engine company crews went to work on clearing the roadway of fluids
and debris. Fire Police handled scene safety and traffic duties.
MAYDAY TRAINING
Monday,
April 29th - For the past 2 weeks, crews have been attending a
National Fire Academy Calling the Mayday Class. The class consisted of
both classroom and hands on evolutions. The hands on evolutions
allowed members to practice calling a Mayday, utilizing LUNAR and how
to operate when a Mayday is called.
WEST 38th AND
ZUCK ROAD VEHICLE ACCIDENT
Monday,
April 29th - As in station crews were performing the weekly
apparatus checklist and getting ready to head up to Station 47 for
drill, the tones were dropped for a vehicle accident at West 38th &
Zuck Road. Deputy Chief 471 arrived on location and reported 2
vehicles with minor damage. Engines 472 & 474 arrived on location at
the same time and assisted with patient care and traffic control. Fire
Police also assisted with traffic. Crews cleared the scene in a short
amount of time.
SMELL OF SMOKE
BRINGS ENGINE AND TRUCK TO 44
Saturday, April 27th - This evening at 18:23, Tower 479 along with
units from 44, 42 and 50 responded to the Ruby Tuesday restaurant at
the Millcreek Mall for a report of smoke in the building. As Tower
479, fully staffed with 6 Volunteers was responding, 44 Command
requested an engine from 46, bringing Engine 472 to the scene. Tower
479 arrived on location, took the address and setup to go to the roof.
The roof crew met up with the crew from Engine 432, inspected numerous
roof top units to determine if anything was faulty on the roof. After
crews on the roof and interior found nothing, all companies cleared
the scene.
VEHICLE ACCIDENT
IN FRONT OF SHEETZ
Wednesday, April 24th - At 16:37, units from 46 along with a BLS
ambulance from 50 responded to the 4600 block of West Ridge Road for a
2 car vehicle accident. Companies arrived on scene and found 2 cars, 1
still in the roadway with moderate damage. As the ambulance crew was
tending to patient care, the crew from Engine 474 handled fluids,
debris and securing the vehicles. Once the vehicles were removed from
the roadway, all companies returned in service.
HIGH SPEED CHASE
LEADS TO VEHICLE ACCIDENT WITH ROLLOVER
Sunday,
April 21st - At 01:50am, companies were dispatched to Love Road at
Zimmerly Road for a vehicle accident. Crews arrived on location and
found 1 vehicle rollover with the driver also extricated. The vehicle
was involved in a high speed pursuit just before crashing. Once on
location, crews assisted with patient care, scene lighting and
assisting the various police agencies already on scene. Engines 472
and 474 remained on location until around 3:30am. Assistant Chief 461
had command.
POSSIBLE STRUCTURE
FIRE ON LOVE ROAD
Thursday, April 18th - At 22:04, units from 46, 48, 44 and MPS
were dispatched to 4920 Love Road on a report of a possible structure
fire. First arriving units on location reported nothing visible.
Engine 472 arrived on location and upon investigation, the crew found
some curtains near a lamp had caught fire. Tower 479 arrived on
location, assisted with checking for extension and with ventilation.
With the fire already out upon 472's arrival, Deputy Chief 471 held
the assignment to 472 and 479 along with MPS to tend to patient care.
Crews cleared the scene at 22:29.
GUNS & HOSES
HOCKEY RAISES OVER $2,000 / ELKS LODGE SUPPORT
MILLCREEK FIRE DEPARTMENTS
Wednesday, April 17th - Back in January, local firefighters, EMS
and police officers met to a battle on the ice for the annual Guns &
Hoses Hockey Charity Game. This year's game raised over $2,000 for the
local Make-A-Wish Foundation. Again thank you to all of those who came
out to support the mission of the game.
Also, recently,
Elks Lodge #67 made a donation of $5,000 donation to the West Ridge
Fire Department. The donation will be put towards operations needs at
WRFD. The other fire departments that protect Millcreek Township also
received $5,000 each. A special thank you to the local Elks Lodge for
the donation.
FIRE PREVENTION
PROGRAMS TAKE 1st PLACE
Tuesday, April 9th - At this past weekend's Erie County Public
Safety Awards banquet, the West Ridge FD Fire Prevention program took
first place. Every year, WRFD speaks to around 2,000 children during
the school year. With so many children to talk to, the fire prevention
season lasts from September - November. Many thanks to all those who
make the fire prevention such a huge success.
CONGRATULATIONS TO
MR. & MRS. FISHER
Saturday, April 6th - This afternoon, family and friends gathered
to celebrate the nuptials of Firefighter Michael Fisher and his new
wife Jennifer. After the wedding, Michael, Jennifer and their family
rode in Engine 474 from the church to a reception that was held in the
social hall at Station 46. Congratulations to the Fishers from the
members of the West Ridge Fire Department.
VOLUNTEERS TRAIN
WITH EACH OTHER
Saturday, April 6th - Today, Volunteers from West Ridge &
West Lake took advantage of the warm weather to work on several
firefighting skills. Crews from Engine 472 and Ladder 489 met up at
the old Wal-Mart and trained on pump operations, aerial operations and
throwing grounds ladders.
TRUCK VS UTILITY
POLE: WEST 26TH & POWELL AVE
Monday,
April 1st - At 02:26am, crews were alerted to West 26th & Powell
Ave for a vehicle accident. Crews arrived on location and reported 1
vehicle versus an utility pole with moderate to heavy damage with
moderate entrapment. Engine 474 and Truck 477 responded. Chief 460 had
Command.
VEHICLE ACCIDENT
WITH CONFINEMENT: STERRETTANIA & LANCASTER
Thursday, March 28th – Late this evening, crews were alerted to
West 32nd & Sterrettania for a reported vehicle accident. Captain 2
arrived on location in the area & reported an updated location of
Sterrettania & Lancaster. Captain 2 also reported 2 vehicles with
heavy damage and requested a second ALS ambulance Deputy Chief 471
then arrived on location and established Sterrettania Road Command.
With the resting location of both vehicles, it was determined to have
crews perform a full side removal to remove the driver of the Jeep
Cherokee. Crews also found that the Cherokee had a 24” intrusion on
the driver’s side. Engine 472 arrived on location, put the rescue
tools into service and performed the side removal. Engine 474 arrived
and put a safety line into service as well. Once the full side removal
was performed, the driver was extricated from the vehicle and
transported to a local hospital for treatment. The driver of the other
vehicle was also transported to a local hospital. As companies were
operating on location, Fire Police shut down Sterrettania from West
32nd to Aberdeen Ave.
EASTER EGG HUNT
Saturday, March 23rd – Today, an Easter egg hunt was held up at
Station 47 for the members children. All the children in attendance
had an excellent time along with the parents.
This year, approx 25 kids
and 50 adults attended. Activities included searching for eggs in the
loose straw, lunch, face painting, and bunny bingo.
VEHICLE ACCIDENT WITH ENTRAPMENT: 5300 BLOCK STERRETTANIA ROAD
Saturday, March 23rd – At 01:10am, companies responded to the 5300
block of Sterrettania Road for a vehicle accident with entrapment.
Deputy Chief 471 arrived on location, reported 1 vehicle into a tree
and confirmed entrapment. Engine 474 arrived on location and
immediately put the rescue tools into service. As crews began working
on removing the driver’s side door, additional crews from Engine 472
worked on removing the passenger’s side door. After determining that
it would be easier to remove the patient through the passenger side,
crews then performed a full side removal. Once this was performed, the
patient was extricated and then turned over to the EMS crew. Crews
removed on location until the vehicle was removed from the tree line.
MEMBERSHIP VOTES
ON NEW CLOTHING LOGO
Monday, March 19th – At last month’s monthly meeting, the fire
chief announced to the membership that a contest was going to be held
to design a new clothing logo design. The members were able to submit
as many different designs has they wished. Once all of the designs
were submitted, the top choices were then be shown to the membership
for a vote. The vote took place at tonight’s meeting. After viewing
the top 4 chosen designs, the membership voted on the logo below. The
winning design was created by Lieutenant Jason Myers. As a reward,
Jason will be able to receive free clothing with the new logo on it.
Congratulations to Jason on his winning design!!
VOLUNTEERS ASSIST
CITIZEN WITH MOVING TRAVEL TRAILER
Tuesday, March 12th – At 06:43pm, Station 46 was dispatched to a
citizen assist in the 4100 block of Millfair Road. Assistant Chief 461 &
Engine 472 arrived on location and found a travel trailer in the middle
of the road. The owner of the trailer was attempting to move the trailer
onto his property when the owner ran into some difficulty. After
stabilizing the trailer, crews developed a game plan to move the
trailer. After utilizing a back hoe, the trailer was moved onto a side
street until the owner is able to place it back on his property. Fire
Police had to shut down Millfair Road from West 38th – West 50th as
crews were on scene.
FIREFIGHTER RESCUE
A CAT STUCK IN A TREE
Saturday,
March 9th - Yes, firefighters still rescue a cat stuck in a tree!!
This afternoon, crews were dispatched to the 5400 block of Old
Sterrettania Road for a cat stuck in a tree. Tower Ladder 479 arrived on
location and after coming up with a game plan, crews deployed the 35'
extension ladder and was able to pull the cat from the tree. It was
found that the cat climbed up the tree last evening, but was unable to
come down due to no branches on the lower part of the tree.
UTV 476 OFFICIALLY
PLACED IN SERVICE
Friday,
March 8th - Today, the West Ridge Fire Department has placed into
service UTV-476. It is an Argo 8X8 UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicle). This
vehicle will provide us with capabilities to include search & rescue in
isolated areas, retrieval and transport of patients from very remote
locations, and transport of personnel and equipment into wild-land
areas. 476 has a removable stretcher mount that will hold a person
secure in a stokes basket. Additional seating area next to the patient
will allow for us to begin transport and treatment of
ill or injured persons immediately, rather than waiting for the
extrication and patient transfer to EMS. This unit is fully amphibious,
and is fully enclosed and heated in order to prevent exposure to
firefighters and passengers/patients during inclement weather. It has
one-of-a-kind unique engineering features that allow it to operate in
heavy snow, sand, deep mud, and flooded environments.
If there are
any agencies that would be interesting in possible Mutual-Aid with the
WRFD Unit 476. please feel free to contact Chief Dan Ouellet @
douellet@westridgefire.org or Assistant
Chief Jim Rosenbaum @
jrosenbaum@westridgefire.org.
NEW ADDITION TO
THE WEST RIDGE FAMILY
Monday, March 4th - Congratulations to
Deputy Chief Andy Kilmer and his wife Lindsey on the birth of their baby
boy, Weston, on Valentines Day. As you can see, Weston is moving up the
fireman ladder fast and already has his Lieutenant helmet. Congrats to
the Kilmers!!
MEMBERS TAKE TRIP TO
PITTSBURGH FIRE EXPO
Sunday, February 24th – At 8am, several members along with guests
met at Station 47 to hit the road in route to Monroeville to visit the
annual Pittsburgh Fire Expo. After stopping for breakfast at Perkins in
Cranberry Township, everyone spent several hours walking around the expo
floor checking out the latest apparatus on display along with visits to
the several vendors as well. After walking around the floor, everyone
then headed over to the local Primanti Bros for a late lunch. All those
who went had a good time and plans are in the works to visit the
Harrisburg Fire Expo.
MORNING VEHICLE
ACCIDENT AT WEST 26th & McKEE ROAD
Wednesday, February 20th – At 10:04am, companies were alerted for
a vehicle accident at West 26th & McKee Road. MPS arrived on
location and reported 2 vehicles with heavy damage. Engine 474 arrived
on location and assisted with fluid & debris clean up along with traffic
control. After both vehicles were cleared from the roadway, all
companies cleared the scene.
SMELL OF SMOKE IN
THE BUILDING, VEHICLE FIRE AT LOCAL HOTEL & VEHICLE ACCIDENT KEEPS
VOLUNTEERS BUSY
Tuesday, February 19th – The Volunteers at WRFD were kept busy for
several hours this morning. The first call came in around 03:20am for a
smell of smoke in the building. Engine 474, staffed with 5 Volunteers,
responded as the 2nd due engine. First arriving companies from 44
(Kearsarge) reported nothing visible from the exterior. Engine 474
arrived on location and staged at the water supply. Investigation by the
interior crew found that the smell of smoke was coming from a faulty
humidifier. Engine 474 then cleared shortly afterwards. Then about 2
hours later, Engine 474 responded on a mutual aid assistance to 40
(McKean) to the Quality Inn at Sterrettania Road & Interstate 90 for a
vehicle fire. Engine 474 arrived on location and was tasked to force
entry into the rear of the refrigeration truck. After gaining access,
crews found no extension to the back portion of the truck. Engine 474
cleared this scene around 60 minutes later. Around 10:30am, Engine 474
responded to the 5200 block of West 38th Street for a vehicle accident.
Engine 474 arrived on location and handled debris clean up. Engine 474
cleared the scene around 15 minutes later.
WRFD WELCOMES NEW
MEMBER & PROBATIONARY MEMBERS FORWARDS AHEAD
Monday, February 18th – At tonight’s meeting, the West Ridge Fire
Department welcomed Ben Gaerttner into the fire department. Ben comes
from a family of firefighters. Also, probationary member Jeff Bresslin
was voted upon by the membership for advancement to Active Firefighter
status. Jeff met the specific criteria to become eligible for
advancement. Congratulations to both individuals.
VALENTINE’S NIGHT
BUILDING FIRE IN WEST LAKE
Thursday, February 14th – This evening, 46 was alerted for an engine to
assist 48 on a building fire in the 400 block of Peninsula Ave. Engine
474 responded fully staffed with 6 Volunteers. Chief 481 (West Lake)
arrived on location and reported a working 1 story cottage fire. Engine
474 arrived on location and assisted with water supply, suppression and
overhaul. WRFD remained on location for about 60 minutes.
RESCUE TRAILER
ARRIVES AT STATION 47
Tuesday, February 12th – This afternoon, the West Ridge Fire
Department took delivery of the brand new rescue trailer. The trailer
was bought from Boyer’s RV Center in Summit Township. The details about
the new trailer are 8ft x 20ft, v nose car hauler, 10K rated axels,
electric tongue jack, 30 amp electric service with 5 LED exterior lights
,3 florescent interior lights, 32" side man door, 10ft. aluminum
interior cabinets, scuba storage locker, 3000 watt Honda quiet generator
with slide tray, drop down rear door ramp, red emergency tail lights,
four 5000 lb tie down D rings, E- track on walls for tie down and white
mag wheels. The trailer will be setup to carry the water rescue gear,
dive team gear, rope rescue gear, the UTV and a lot of other things. The
trailer still needs to go out for graphics, have emergency lights
installed and a few minor other things. There is no date on when the new
trailer will be put into service.
TOWER 479 GOES TO 48
ON SMOKE INVESTIGATION
Tuesday,
January 29th – At 06:22pm, companies from 46, 48 (West Lake), 50
(Lake Shore) and MPS were sent to the Perkins Restaurant on West 8th
Street for a report of smoke in the building. Captain 491 arrived on
location and reported nothing visible from the exterior. Crews from
Engine 482 and Ladder 489 then arrived on location to further
investigate. Tower 479, fully staffed with 6 Volunteers, arrived on
location and staged on the A/B corner. The tower crew was then tasked
with checking the interior for the location of the smoke while 1 member
from 479 went to the roof with a crew from 489 to check for any
conditions up there. As companies were investigating the interior, the
source of the smoke was narrowed down to the entrance of the restaurant.
As crews were pulling ceiling and inspecting above the drop ceiling,
crews located the source of the smoke. Crews then watered down the area
and checked for any further extension. Tower 479 was on scene for around
60 minutes.
UTILITY POLE FIRE
CLOSES WEST 38TH STREET
Thursday,
January 24th - This evening, units were dispatched to West 38th &
Canterbury Dr for a reported utility pole fire. Truck 477 arrived on
location and reported that the top part of an utility pole was burning
through. Lieutenant 2 arrived on location and requested that West 38th
St be closed from Sterrettania Rd to Zuck Rd. Truck 477, Truck 478 along
with Fire Police from 46, 48 and 44 handled this. While on scene, the
pole burnt all the way through. Crews from Penelec on location, assessed
the situation and then began repairs. Millcreek Township Emergency
Management was contacted as a precaution due to the possibly of warming
shelters being needed due to temperatures in the teens at the time.
FULL ASSIGNMENT GOES
TO KEARSARGE ON 3 ALARM FIRE
Sunday,
January 20th – Early this morning at 05:40, Tower 479 was dispatched to
assist 44 (Kearsarge) on a commercial structure fire at Washington Ave &
West Gore Road. Units from 44 were previously on location investigating
a wires down call when crews reported smoke coming from a nearby
business. After investigating, it was determined that the smoke was
coming from a dental office. 44 units then requested that the structure
fire box be dispatched. Millcreek Police reported heavy black smoke
coming from the structure at one point As Tower 479 along with the other
first alarm companies were operating on scene, 44 Command struck a 2nd
alarm. This brought Engine 474 along with additional mutual aid. Engine
474 arrived on location and assisted with manpower and water supply. A
third alarm was struck by Command bringing additional engine companies
including Engine 472. While companies were operating on this box, the
tones were alerted for a residential structure fire a few blocks east of
the fire grounds. Additional mutual companies from Millcreek, Erie City
and East County responded to this blaze. At one point, the Millcreek
Fire all alert tone was activated, alerting all Millcreek Firefighters &
Fire Departments. As companies were operating at the dental office fire,
a 3rd fire broke out next door at a local restaurant. While operating on
all 3 fire grounds, crews had to battle high winds in the area. 46 units
operated on scene for around 4 hours. Fire companies responding this
morning included 46, 44, 48 (West Lake), 50 (Lake Shore), 36 (Belle
Valley), 68 (Kuhl Hose), 24 (Brookside), 30 (Wesleyville), 32 (Erie
City), 42 (Perry Hi-Way), 40 (McKean), 52 (Fairview) along with
Millcreek Paramedics. Pictures courtesy of Kuhl Hose 68, Raymond Stender
& Andrew Carne (WLFD).
 
LENGTHY EXTRICATION / MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT
ON INTERSTATE 90
Thursday,
January 17th - This morning at approximately 07:00 am, West Ridge
was alerted by Erie County 911 to assist McKean Hose with a Rescue
Engine for a Greyhound bus accident with 25+ injuries and heavy
entrapment. Rescue Engine 472, Rescue Engine 474, Utility 477 and Truck
478 responded with 15 volunteers. Chief 460 arrived on location and
reported that the driver of the charter bus was heavily entrapped and
that there were several minor and moderate injuries in the bus. This set
a mass casualty incident into play bringing EMS units from McKean, Perry
Hi-Way, Fairview, Central County Paramedics, Emergycare, West County
Paramedics, Millcreek Paramedics and the Haz-Mat Command Bus to
transport the non-injured to a local parish center. Crews from 472 and
474 split up with half the crew working on extricating the driver and
the second crew concentrating on extricating the passengers from the bus
through a side wheelchair door. The extrication team put several rescue
tools including the jaws of life into service. The extrication took
around 90 minutes. Great teamwork and job to all involved! West Ridge
Fire Police provided traffic control and scene safety.
Pennsylvania State Police are investigating.
CREWS TAKE ARGO OUT
INTO THE WOODS
Sunday, January 13th – This afternoon, several members loaded up on
Truck 477 with the Argo in tow and headed out to some very muddy trails
in McKean Township. Crews took the Argo up into the woods, through some
fields, across a creek, up and down the hills, over a few streams and
through what seemed like hundreds of puddles to continue to get used to
maneuvering the Argo. The conditions could have not been any better!!!
Although everyone came out of the woods with a little mud on them, it
was an excellent training opportunity.
UTV 46 ARRIVES AT
WRFD
Saturday, January 12th – This evening, the Argo UTV that was
recently purchased by WRFD was delivered to Station 47. After a lesson
on the proper care and maintenance by the dealer, several members had
the opportunity to take the Argo around the property to get the feel of
it. Members drove the UTV over snow banks, up hills and around curves.
The UTV was purchased to help with environmental rescues, usage by the
Water Rescue Team and with any other type of emergency as needed. The
UTV will also be available for stand bys. The UTV will be transported in
a trailer which has not arrived yet. There is no time table on when the
UTV will be placed into service.
46 & 48 TRAIN ON
AERIAL OPERATIONS
Saturday,
January 12th – This afternoon, some of the members from West Ridge
and West Lake met over at Montessori School to train on aerial
operations. After a short talk about the fundamentals, those members
present worked on setting up the aerials on Tower 479 and Ladder 489.
Members then took a quick tour of the roof. Afterwards, a couple of the
Probationary members worked on placing a 35’ ground ladder while other
members got a quick lesson on setting up the other fire department’s
aerial.
ROUTE 20 & MILLFAIR
ROAD VEHICLE ACCIDENT
Wednesday, January 9th – This afternoon, units were dispatched to
Route 20 & Millfair Road for a 2 car vehicle accident. MPS arrived on
location and reported 2 vehicles with moderate damage. Engine 474
arrived on location, handled debris and fluids along with traffic. Fire
Police and Truck 477 arrived and assisted with clean up and traffic.
Crews cleared the scene a short time later.
GUNS & HOSES HOCKEY
GAME
Saturday, January 5th – This afternoon was the annual Guns vs
Hoses Charity Hockey Game. The game consists of members from local law
enforcement agencies against firefighters & EMS personnel from local
fire departments and EMS agencies. The charity benefiting from this
year’s game was the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Participating in today’s
game from WRFD was John Sorge, Andy Kilmer, Robby Laufenberg and past
member Jamison Roth. All those who participated in the game had an
excellent time and are looking forward to the 2014 game. In the end, the
Guns pulled out the victory 4-3.
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