On March 17th things were going smoothly all day at Mt. Penn. Guess we should have known that wouldn’t last.
At 7:35p.m. Mt. Penn was dispatched, along with Lower Alsace(Co4) to Goodwill Industries in St. Lawrence for a fire alarm. Exeter Twp(Co25) had requested Company 4 to cover as they were operating at a serious crash on the east side of the township. Crews found no problem except for the alarm panel with wires and construction debris all over. They were advised that the alarm company had been there earlier working on the system and had left it that way. The alarm was unable to be reset and the employee was going to have the alarm technician come out to fix the issue.
The ink on the run report wasn’t even dry when we were dispatched again at 8:21p.m. with Lower Alsace to N. 23rd St. in Mt. Penn for a carbon monoxide alarm. Crews used several meters to check the building with negative results and the assignment was cleared at 8:45p.m.
Several members were debating whether to hang out at station for a few more minutes or go home before anything else happened. Deputy 1(Eisenhard) made a poor choice and decided to go home but only made it 2 blocks from the station when the structure assignment for Endlich Ave. in Mt. Penn was sent out for a chimney fire at 9:01p.m. Captain 1(Lombardo) arrived and quickly reported a working chimney fire. Engine 4 stretched a line to the front door while Ladder 1 performed some stellar maneuvering getting into the driveway off of Philmay Terrace. Crews emptied the fireplace and attempted extinguishment with dry powder chimney bombs from the roof, but this didn’t work too well due the extreme buildup of creosote in the chimney. A dry chemical extinguisher and exhaust fan was used from the fireplace in the living room to extinguish the fire. Crews checked for extension with none found and the units were able to clear just after 10p.m.
