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.
Amazon’s Prime Day is here! Deals start at 9:00 PM ET, July 10th and runs through July 11, 2017. Prime Day is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. We would like to remind you to shop at smile.amazon.com and Amazon will donate to the Alert Fire Company No. 1 of Downingtown.
Whether you are shopping on Prime Day, for the holidays, a special occasion or just taking care of every day needs on Amazon.com, EVERY purchase you make, everyday, can help your 100% volunteer Alert Fire Company No. 1 of Downingtown.
Thanks to Amazon’s Smile program, every time you shop on Amazon (Prime members eligible, too), Amazon will donate a portion of the price of your eligible Amazon purchases to Alert. The prices you’ll pay are exactly the same — you’re just connected to donate a portion of your sale to Alert.
When you #StartWithaSmile on #PrimeDay, Amazon donates to the Alert Fire Company No. 1 of Downingtown. Shop for great deals at smile.amazon.com/ch/23-1438201
The Alert No. 1 and Downingtown Fire Dept. volunteers were busy from 6:00 AM until 11:40 PM today, preparing and keeping our community safe during all of the 39th. Annual Downingtown Good Neighbor Day events.
The Alerts started the day with what has turned-out to be an annual July 4th breakfast at a local diner, starting at 6:00 AM. After breakfast the volunteers broke into several different teams for the day. We had emergency crews operating a Water Station at Alert, while Minquas EMS had a First Aid Tent at Kerr Park and mobile EMT’s and Medics during the 5-10-15 k Run-For-Life Race; the DFD Water Rescue Teams were stationed on the Brandywine Creek during the Canoe Race; the DFD Fire Police maintained Traffic Control throughout the day and night; Fire and Rescue teams were on duty in addition to the DFD Officers maintained an Incident Command Team during the entire day. Our Mutual-Aid partners assisted us with Fire and Emergency Crews during the Run-For-Life Race, plus during and after the fireworks show.
A new thing that the DFD added to our busy schedule for the entire day and evening was a New Volunteer Member Recruiting Table that was located on Pennsylvania Ave. at Park Lane, in Kerr Park. Volunteers from the DFD in conjunction with www.helpfightfire.com (in Chester County) greeted many visitors from near and far throughout the entire day of events. Several visitors found out for the first time that we and many fire departments and companies in the area are volunteers! This table was a success, as we were able to speak with many people and sparked the interest of several people to become a volunteer in their community.
If you are interested in our theme of “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” please visit the Downingtown Fire Dept. at either the Alert Fire Co. No. 1, 122 W. Pennsylvania Ave. or the Minquas Fire Co. No. 2, 141 Wallace Ave, both in Downingtown, PA 19335. Or, visit our websites at www.alertfire.org or www.minquasfire.org .
If you are not sure which Fire, EMS or Fire Police service is closest to your home, please visit www.helpfightfire.com for more info on how you can help your community.
The Officers of the DFD would like to thank all of our volunteers, our Mutual-Aid partners and their families for your service to our community in preparation and during our Good Neighbor Day and July 4th celebration.
The members and officers of the Alert Fire Co. 1 would like to wish you and your family a Happy and Safe Independence Day!
At approximately 5:15 PM, during a a tremendous thunderstorm, the Downingtown Fire Dept. was dispatched as part of the first alarm assignment for a house fire in 700 block of Marshallton-Thorndale Rd., in West Bradford Twp.
The crew from Tower 45 placed the first round of ground ladders around a barn that was converted to a three story house and then went to the third floor to check for fire extension and ventilation. The crew from Engine 46-2 assisted the crew from Rescue 38 with fire attack.
The crews from Engine 45 and Air-Light 46 remained un-committed at the scene, due to this being the fourth working house fire at the same time in Chester County during and after the storm.
The volunteers from Alert No. 1, Fame Fire Co. No. 3 of West Chester, Thorndale Fire Co. and the Wagontown Fire Co., who are some of the member companies of the Chester County Rescue Task Force participated in Paratech Rescue Strut Training.
The refresher training took place at the Chester County Public Safety Training Center and was conducted by Robert O’Donald who is a factory representative of Paratech Fire & Rescue Equipment. Mr. O’Donald travels across America and conducts Paratech Rescue Strut and Air Bag training at FDIC in Indianapolis and to many volunteer and career departments. This was a great opportunity for the group to get some hands-on training with the tools that we have on our rescue apparatus and trailers, at the training center.
Volunteers from Alert No. 1, Lionville Fire Co. and the Fame Fire Co. No. 3 of West Chester, who are part of the Chester County Rescue Task Force participated in Emergency Boat Operations Training on April 8 and 9, 2017. These swift water rescue teams as well as the others from our task force train in these and other technical rescue operations on a regular basis.
Below, are a few additional photos and two videos from the April training that was conducted on Susquehanna River, in Columbia, PA. The photos and video are courtesy of Pavoncello Media Productions and WhiteCap Water Rescue Training, LLC.
Thank you again to all of our Sponsors, Golfers and Volunteers who made our Fourth Annual Alert Fire Co. No. 1 Golf Outing at the Ron Jaworski’s Downingtown Country Club another huge success.
Below, is a list of all of our 2017 Feature Sponsors, Hole Sponsors, Cart Sponsors and Door Prize Sponsors who helped make the Golf Outing a special-rewarding day. We thank you again for the support of our 100% volunteer fire company and we could not have done this annual event without your assistance.
The winning teams and the winners of the different challenges are as follows:
Photos of the outing will be added shortly.
We hope to see you all again next year – on May 7, 2018.
At 12:45 PM, Tower 45 and Station 46 (Minquas Fire Co. No. 2) were dispatched as part of the First Alarm Assignment to assist Station 47 (Lionville Fire Co.) with a house fire on the 900 block of Evan Dr., Uwchlan Twp.
Chief 47 (Holmes) arrived on location with fire showing at a single family dwelling. Chief 47 advised the crew from Engine 47-2 to deploy a 2-1/2″ attack line through the front door and for Tower 45 to set-up in front of the house. The crew from Tower 45 (Lt. Hamilton) went to the second floor and pulled ceilings and walls for the engine companies. All of the DFD volunteers assisted the mutual aid companies with the extensive overhaul operation.
Photos are courtesy of Nozzle Nut Photography.
Our volunteers were busy training again this weekend at two locations. The first location was at the Chester County Public Safety Training Center in South Coatesville Our newest member, Alex Green is currently enrolled in the Pennsylvania Dept. Health – Basic Vehicle Rescue Technician. Upon completion of this course, Alex will have learned about topics such as vehicle rescue incident management, tools/equipment, vehicle anatomy/design, hazard control, patient access, care, and packaging; disentanglement, extrication and termination.
The next course also at CCPSTC, was attended by our Fire Police Officers Pat and Carmen Semenza. They are enrolled in a new course that is titled Introduction to the Fire Service for the Fire Police. This course is designed to introduce Fire Police to basic information including an overview of the fire service, fire service organization, firefighter safety, personal protective equipment, tools, emergency lighting and backing apparatus safely.
The third course for the weekend was the final and practical exam for new Driver Trainee John Follett and and Lt. Karl Stevens that attended the Montgomery County Fire Academy with Engine 45 for the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy – Pump Operations I and II. This course provides the firefighter with an introduction to basic pump construction and theory as well as operating techniques. Emphasis is placed on getting water to the pump, getting water from the pump for hose streams, and prevention of common mistakes in pump operations. In addition, they learned about friction loss, supply of standpipe and sprinkler systems, relay pumping, master streams, foam proportioners and elevated master streams.
Our volunteers are always eager and willing to learn something new or just sharpen their skills. The DFD Officers would to thank our volunteers for taking time from their weekend to make themselves better at protecting our community.
Editors Note: If you look close at one of the photos below, you will see our Engine 45 and an Engine from the Flourtown Fire Co. (Montgomery County) pumping with each other. What is special about this photo is that past DFD Chief Bill Wilmot grew up and was a Junior Firefighter in Flourtown. He then moved to Downingtown with his family and was a long-time member of Alert, in addition to his son Jeff becoming a member of Minquas in the 1970′s and 80′s. During the class this weekend the youngest member of the Wilmot family of Flourtown had the opportunity to pump to her great-uncles fire company pumper.
April 8th and 9th was a busy weekend for the Alert No.1 volunteers. Generally, every Spring and Fall are full of training events for emergency personnel to participate in. And, this Spring is no different for some of our members that will be in training classes every weekend in April, so that we are better prepared to serve our citizens.
One of the training classes was hosted at the Alert firehouse in Downingtown this weekend. The hosted class was the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission – Emergency Boat Operations and Rescue training. Students attending this training represented the Chester County Rescue Task Force from Alert, Lionville Fire Co. and Fame Fire Co. No. 3 of West Chester.
The classroom portion of this training was held in the Alert training room with the boat and motor maintenance was shown and explained in their apparatus room on Saturday. Practical hands on skills were demonstrated by the instructors and performed by the students on the Susquehanna River at Columbia on Sunday. This training was conducted by WhiteCap Water Rescue Training, LLC.
Two other Alert volunteers participated in the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy – Pumper Operations I and II course. This training took place at the Montgomery County Fire School in Consohocken with the students learning the proper techniques of pumping hand lines in addition to suburban and rural water supply.
Last but not least, our newest member of two months, jumped in with both feet and is enrolled in the Pennsylvania Dept. of Health – Basic Vehicle Rescue Technician training at the Chester County Public Safety Training Center in South Coatesville. Upon completion of the BVRT class, he will have learn the basics of vehicle stabilization using several different methods and tools, patient extrication using manual and hydraulic powered tools and scene safety.
Our training never stops and our current volunteers are eager to learn new skills.
Boat Ops photos are courtesy of Pavoncello Media Productions, Columbiaspy.com and WhiteCap Water Rescue.
