First Due Barn Fire in East Fallowfield Township
 
By Fire Chief Michael McWilliams
March 17, 2014
 

On Monday, March 17th, 2014 at 2211 the Westwood Fire Company was dispatched along with Sadsburyville Fire Company and a Tanker from Keystone Valley to the unit block of Park Avenue in East Fallowfield Township for a barn fire.

Assistant Chief Scott, who lives in the area, arrived one minute after dispatch reporting a barn "fully involved" in flames. Assistant Chief Scott established "Park Avenue Command" and also requested the first alarm Tanker Task Force, bringing five additional water tankers to the scene.

Engine 44-5 and Ambulance 44-1 both responded minutes after dispatch. Upon arrival, Engine 44-5 entered the long driveway back to the fire and began immediate fire suppression utilizing the deck mounted master stream.

Sadsburyville Engine 31-1 then arrived and deployed 500' of 5" supply hose down the driveway for water supply.

Keystone Tanker 08 acted as the nurse tanker at the end of the lane, while tankers from the area delivered water.

The fire was placed under control at 2240. Fire crews spent several hours wetting down hot spots. The barn was full of hay and had collapsed, making this operation very difficult.

A backhoe from East Fallowfield Township was used to assist with pulling apart debris and piles of smoldering hay.

Units cleared the scene at 0335.

Crews were dispatched to return to the scene the following day to extinguish more burning hay which had been smouldering throughout the night. Firefighters spent an additional 3 hours at the scene on Tuesday with more cleanup efforts.

The Westwood Fire Company would like to thank all of the mutual aid companies who assisted at this late night incident. The cause of the blaze is currently under investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police and Chester County Fire Marshals.

 
Units: Engine 44-5, Rescue 44, Ambulance 44-1, and Traffic 44
 
Mutual Aid: Sadsburyville Engines 31-1 and 31-2, Keystone Valley Tanker and Ladder 08, Cochranville Engine 27-5, Po-Mar-Lin Tanker 36, Christiana Lancaster Tanker 5-2-1, Tanker 5-2-2, and Squad 5-2