February Recap
Incidents
Charred insulation from a kitchen wall cavity fire
February was a steady month with eighty-nine (75) calls. Forty-one (41) incidents involved fire and rescue-related responses and thirty-four (34) responses were for quick response medical emergency calls. Incidents of note include multiple severe weather-related responses including crashes, trees down, and electric utility damages. There were two fire-related responses in Pine that included a fire within a wall of a kitchen and a chimney fire. A total of twenty-nine (29) members responded to calls in February. Our average turnout time (dispatch to the first unit on the road) was two minutes and 21 seconds. Our average response time to emergency incidents was six minutes and fifty-one seconds.
Here is a breakdown of our incidents for February by major incident type:
Fire- 2
Fire Alarm- 8
Good Intent- 11
Hazardous Condition- 4
Rescue & QRS- 45
Service Call- 4
Severe Weather- 1
TOTAL – 75
Training
The ATV- One of February’s Training Topics
Freezing temperatures and inclement weather kept us in the garage, but members continued training to stay ready to serve the community. Topics throughout the month included operation of our ATV vehicle, rope rescue, and general equipment knowledge. QRS members completed annual bloodborne pathogens training.
The ATV is a versatile vehicle that can be used for fires in brush and woods, as well as other situations where access is an issue. For example, we recently assisted the McCandless-Franklin Park Ambulance Authority with the removal of a patient from a house that had a snow-covered long-access driveway that conventional vehicles couldn’t negotiate. For training, members covered all facets of the operation of the ATV from loading and unloading it on the trailer to winch operation to using its fire pump.
Community Outreach
We were honored to welcome a special needs class from North Allegheny High School to tour our main station on February 9. The students had been working on fire safety topics in the classroom, and their teacher wanted to enhance the lessons with a fire station experience. Students had an opportunity to use our fire extinguisher training system, talk to firefighters, tour the truck garage and try on some equipment.
We’re excited to interact more with the community with events like this as things start to return to normal from the pandemic.