The mission of the Alert Fire Company Number One of Downingtown, PA shall be the preservation of life and property from the destruction of fire and other emergencies in the Borough of Downingtown, PA and vicinity.
The Annual Downingtown Fire Dept. Fire Prevention Open House is on Wednesday, October 12, 2016, from 6:30 to 9:00 PM. Mark your calendars today and please join us for this family-fun event,
There will be two locations for you to visit: The Alert Fire Co. No. 1 at 122 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335 and the the Minquas Fire Co. No. 2 at 141 Wallace Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.
Please come visit us and you will have a chance to speak with our volunteers, check out our Fire and Rescue apparatus, receive some Fire Prevention materials, have snacks and see some cool videos! We are neighbors helping neighbors; bring the entire family and see what we are all-about and how we can help you.
At approximately 8:00 AM, Squad 45 (Engineer C. Keen) responded as part of the Chester County Rescue Task Force to assist the East Whiteland Fire Co. (Station 5) with a high angle rescue at the Glasgow Quarry on Morehall Road, East Whiteland Twp. There was a large articulating dump truck that rolled off of the dirt roadway and onto the inside of the quarry wall. The Station 5 crews arrived and found the large dump truck over 100 feet down an unstable embankment with the driver trapped inside the cab.
Two of our DFD rope rescue technicians were able to respond in Squad 45 and assisted the other Task Force members with the rope rescue rigging systems, multiple life safety lines and hauling. The Task Force members were met with a very challenging scene due to the poor road conditions within the quarry in addition to the heavy rainfall during the operation.
Photos are courtesy of the East Whiteland Fire Co., Fame Fire Co. No. 3 and the Chester County Rescue Task Force.
At approximately 11:45 AM the Downingtown Fire Dept. (Stations 45/46) and the Lionville Fire Co. (Station 47) Surface Water Rescue Teams plus the Friendship Diving-Rescue Unit from Phoenixville (Station 77) were dispatched as part of the Chester County Rescue Task Force to assist the Wagontown Fire Co. (Station 35) with a water rescue on Chambers Lake in the Hibernia Park, West Caln Twp.
Chief 35 (T. Ziegler) established a Unified Command Post on the North Shore. He was advised that a boat had overturned on the lake and the subject was missing. The Hiberna Park Rangers Boat plus Boat 35 were launched and the search began on and around the lake. Boats 45-1, 45-2 and 47-1 arrived and assisted with the search in addition to supporting the dive team operations throughout the remainder of the day, until darkness suspended the search.
Other agencies that assisted with the operations were the Chester County Parks and Engineering, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, West Caln PD, Jeffstat Helicopter and Pennsylvania Search and Rescue Dogs.
Photos are courtesy of The Daily Local News and the Wagontown Fire Co.
On this 15th. Anniversary, we honor those hero’s who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11, 2001. We will never forget you and GOD BLESS AMERICA!
At 2:00 AM, Tower 45, Engine 46-2 and MICU Ambulance 46-3 (Minquas Fire Co. No. 2) responded on the First Due Assignment, to assist Station 49 (East Brandywine Fire Co.) with a house fire on Hessian Court, East Brandywine Twp.
Deputy Chief 49 (J. Edwards) arrived on location with fire showing at the roof-line of the split-level style house. The crew from Tower 45 (Lt. K. Stevens) placed ground ladders on all sides of the house and the Engine 46-2 (Lt. T. Lee) crew assisted with overhaul inside of the house, while the engine was ready to be the water supply pumper at the corner of Hessian Court and Helm Way. The MICU crew set-up a rehab station in the front yard. The DFD volunteers were back at their stations by 4:00 AM.
Thanks to IrishEyez Emergency Services Photography for the photos.
The Downingtown Fire Dept. was dispatched at 2:00 PM on Sunday, for an overturned truck accident on the Westbound Rt. 30 Bypass, just east of the Business Rt. 30 Exit.
The first-in report by Battalion Chief 46 (J. Swisher) and Assistant Chief 45 (J. Stevens) confirmed that a single axle tanker truck, that was fully loaded with heating oil was overturned and over the embankment of the Rt. 30 Bypass, with the driver self-extricated himself.
The first-due apparatus to respond were Rescue (Lt. K. Stevens) and Engine 45 (Capt. Wesson), Engine 46-2 (Lt. T. Lee) and MICU 46-3. Command added the Chester County Haz-Mat Team 15, Engine 5-5 and Foam Trailer 5 (East Whiteland Fire Co.) to assist as a water supply and potential fire attack. The DFD was re-alerted for Brush 45 and Rehab Ambulance 46-1, plus Engine 38 (Thorndale Fire Co.) assisted at the scene with fresh manpower.
The Rescue 45 team stabilized the tanker with Paratech Rescue Struts and the Haz-Mat 15 team evaluated the truck for hazardous conditions and prepared the tanker for an off-loading of material operation which took several hours to complete. The Engine companies worked together deploying foam hand lines and water supply operations.
Fire Police from Stations 45, 46, 6, 47, 51, 52, 53, 54 and 56 assisted with traffic control and shutting down the Westbound Rt. 30 Bypass at Rt. 100.
The Fire, Rescue, EMS and Fire Police operation was in service for 8-1/2 hours to secure and maintain the scene safety until the tanker was placed back onto the roadway by Abel Brothers Towing.
The DFD would like to thank the Wagontown Fire Co., the West Bradford Fire Co. and the Good Fellowship Ambulance Club for relocating to Stations 45 and 46.
After returning home just after 4:00 AM on Saturday from the East Brandywine house fire assist, the Tower 45 crew departed at 8:45 AM for Kennett Square. The Alert volunteers helped the Kennett Fire Co. celebrate the Housing or dedication of their new Ambulance, Tanker and Mid-Mount Ladder Tower. The Kennett Fire Co. are one of our mutual aid partners in the Chester County Technical Rescue – Water Rescue Team.
We were honored to win the First Place Award of Best Appearing and Equipped Aerial Apparatus.
Congratulations and Good Luck to the Kennett Fire Co. on your new apparatus.
Just before 11:00 PM, Engines 45 and 46-2 (Minquas Fire Co. No. 2) of the Downingtown Fire Dept. were dispatched on the First Alarm assignment to assist Station 49 (East Brandywine Fire Co.) with a house fire on Ridgewood Circle, East Brandywine Twp. Chief 49 (J. Edwards) arrived on scene with a working house fire and extreme fire conditions to the rear of the house. Chief 49 requested a Tanker Task Force and a Second Alarm struck, which added Tower 45 and Air/Light 46 from the DFD.
Engine 45 (Ass’t Chief J. Stevens) was the third arriving engine and was directed to be the Water Supply pumper at the corner of Ridgewood Circle and Bondsville Rd. while Engine 46-2 (Capt. Boyd) was the fourth arriving engine and was rerouted to the Tanker Fill Site at Station 49. Deputy Chief 46 (Heininger) was the Water Supply Officer and coordinated with Deputy Chief 44 (R. Scott) the Tanker Shuttle. All of the DFD crews assisted with the fire attack and overhaul operations during the three and a half hour fire. Engine 45 pumped over 100,000 gallons of water to Engine 49-1, at the fire scene.
Some of the photos are courtesy of IrishEyez Photography.
The 100% volunteer Alert Fire Co. No. 1 hosted our 48th Annual Chicken Bar-B-Que and Bake Sale and it was a great success.
We would like to thank all of you, who supported our event during the extremely hot weather conditions with the heat index at 110°F throughout the entire day. We sold 580 dinners on Saturday, thanks to the generous support of everybody who came out into the heat of the day. Our goal each year is to sell-out at 600 dinners, although we were 20 dinners short this year, we were extremely happy with our results, due to the adverse weather conditions!
This is our largest fund-raiser of the year and and we do appreciate all of the support and well wishes that our customers gave us during the BBQ. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our volunteers who helped prepare for this event on Wednesday and Friday nights, then again starting at 7:30 AM and ending at 10:00 PM on Saturday. Without the dedication of our volunteers, their families and friends, we cannot produce this annual fundraising event that so many people look forward to each year.
In addition, we would like to thank the following organizations who donated items to the annual BBQ, so that we can keep our cost to our customers at only $13.00 per meal:
And, the following Social Media and Websites for posting our advertisement:
Again, thank you all who helped make the day a GREAT success! See you again, next August.
The Alert Fire Co. No. 1 will host our 48th Annual Chicken Bar-B-Que and Bake Sale Fundraiser on Saturday, August 13, 2016. Dinner will be served from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM and you can either eat-in at the firehouse or take-out. Advanced tickets can be purchased at the firehouse on any Wednesday evening between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM.
The dinner will include a hearty half of chicken, a baked potato, corn on the cob, apple sauce, dinner roll, a drink and a dessert, for a donation of $13.00. Due to hard work of our BBQ Committee we were been able to keep the price, the same for four years now!
Please stop-by and support your 100% volunteer fire company with our largest fund-raiser of the year.. This is a great way for our neighbors to socialize with each other and to meet some new friends.
