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| By Lieutenant 8-2 Christopher Harris |
| April 10, 2012 |
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| Local Box 3-21. At 11:26 AM, Station 3 received a dispatch for a brush/woods fire in the area of Center St and Gorsuch Rd. Upon arriving on location at the end of High Acre Drive, units found a woods fire located about 3/4 of a mile off the road. Within 10 minutes, additional units were called to assist with the fast moving and barely accessible fire. ATV-4 was requested at 11:57 AM. This unit has the ability to operate in dense woods with limited access and possess a fire pump, tank and hose for extinguishing fire. Brush 35 and Brush 95 were able to get within 100 yards of the fire by using a "logging access road", but were unable to get any closer due to overgrowth and fallen trees.
Brush 85, Brush 136 (Gamber), Brush 55 (Taneytown) and ATV-12 were requested at 12:05 PM, due to their off-road capabilities (Military style units). ATV-12 was used to transport firefighters to and from the scene.
On arrival, units were advised to stage in a field adjacent to the woods, since the wooded area was very dense with limited access. Their crews, with tools, were sent up to the fire area. Brush 85's crew (Harris / Isanogle) arrived on foot to the fire area and after assisting other crews with making a handmade fire line, Lt. Harris advised Command (Lt 3-1, Haddad) and Operations (Chief 3-1, Starry), that Brush 85 could make it back to the fire. The 1966 Kaiser 5/4 ton military Brush unit was able to push through the wooded area and provide a larger amount of mobile water to the fire area. Two (2) loads of water (200 gallon tank) were used by Brush 85 to help crews extinguish the fire.
Water supply was establish at a hydrant on Center St at High Acres Dr by Engine 31. Two (2) medic units were on scene as well as canteen service.
A special request was made at 12:09 PM and 12:14 PM for Special Unit 6 (Pleasant Valley) and Engine 52 [Compressed Air Foam unit that uses "Class A" foam to help water saturate the ground more efficiently](Taneytown), for their ability to provide water transport to the scene in off-road conditions (Both are 4-Wheel drive units). Then, at 12:20 PM, Operations requested a bulldozer to assist with making a fire line. At 1:20 PM, a bulldozer from Condons Excavating arrived on location. By this time, crews were able to stop the advance of fire but still had a lot of mop up to complete. At 1:26 PM, the fire was placed under control.
The fire appeared to have started near a camp site area, but the incident is still under investigation by the Maryland Forestry Service. Brush 85 cleared the call at 2:24 PM and Command placed the fire out at 2:30 PM. |
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| Units: |
B-85 |
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| Mutual Aid: |
B-35, E-31, U-3, PM-37, PIO-3(Westminster), B-95, Lt. 9-1, PM-99, U-9-1(Reese), B-65, SU-6(Pleasant Valley), ATV-4(Manchester), B-136(Gamber), B-55, E-52(Taneytown), ATV-12(Sykesville), Maryland Forestry, Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office, Condons Excavating |
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Brush 85 getting water from Brush 95. Crews with hand tools and Bladder Tanks were also used to extinguish the fire. Photo: C. Harris
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Brush 35 and Brush 95 were unable to continue from this point due to the condition of the "Logging Road". B-85 and ATV-4 were able to use this location to fill their tanks and proceed back to the fire area. Photo: C. Harris
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The area between the two trees is the south side of the fire area. Note the canopy to the left of the center tree. This was a camp site and the fire extended to the NW, N and NE from this area. The fire area was about 2 acres. Photo: C. Harris
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This picture is from the North edge of the fire area. Firefighters were able to stop the advance of the fire just in front of the overgrowth and tree at the bottom of the picture. Condons Excavating is inside the fire area, mopping up. Photo: Courtesy of WVFD
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Special Unit 6 and Engine 52 transported water from Center St. (hydrant) to the fire ground and pumped water to Brush 95. This was the only road access to the fire area. Photo: Courtesy WVFD
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