| April 6, turned out to be a busy day for Union Bridge. The first fire response was in Frederick County, Box 17-35 in the 11000 block of Handboard Rd for a shed fire at about 1:30 in the afternoon. Units arrived on location to find a small chicken coupe and shed fully involved while a brush fire was rapidly moving into a wooded area adjacent to the buildings. The brush fire was quickly stopped and after extinguishing the buildings, 'Class A' foam was used during overhaul to insure the fire was completely extinguished since winds were somewhat gusty. Units assisted Frederick County Station 17 for this incident and Frederick County Chief 9 had "Command".
At about 7:20 PM, Engine/Tanker 82 and Brush 85 responded to assist units on location of a brush fire in the 15000 block of Liberty Rd. (FC Box 17-41). While enroute, the Brush unit was placed in-service and Engine/Tanker 82 transferred to Frederick County Station 17 (Libertytown).
The next fire incident was dispatched at around 10:00 PM for a building fire in the 600 block of Lucabaugh Mill Rd (Box 3-28). Rescue Squad 8 was dispatched as part of the 2nd Alarm/RIT dispatch. Then, at 10:15 PM, Engine 81 was dispatched with PM-109 (New Windsor) for a MVC near 150 Liberty St. (Box 3-35). While enroute, Engine 81 was cancelled by Engine 33 that arrived on scene to find a truck into a pole with wires across the road.
Rescue Squad 8 was placed in-service by "Lucabaugh Mill Command" and transferred to Station 3 (Westminster) and Engine 81 was also transferred to Station 3 after being cancelled from the MVC. Several other units also transferred to Station 3 as well, including PM-139 (Gamber), Engine 51 (Taneytown), Baltimore County Engine 412, Special Unit 418 (Riestertown) and Truck 404 (Glyndon). This is done when Multiple Alarm incidents are dispatched (greater than 3 Alarms) to insure better coverage for the entire county (Centralization of resources). Though the fire on Lucabaugh Mill Rd only went to 2 Alarms, two (2) Tanker Task Forces and the RIT Alarm were dispatched to the incident, which technically works out to be more than 3 Alarms.
While transferred into Station 3, things around the county began to quiet down. At 1 AM, Engine 81, Engine 51, Rescue Squad 8 and Truck 404 were dispatched to Structure Alarm 3-1 for an electrical odor in the building at the 'Barrel House', 10 Distillery Drive. This building has a women's shelter on the fourth floor. Rescue Squad 8 arrived with nothing evident and Chief 8 (C. Green) took command. Crew investigated the odor and found nothing inside, however, BGE (Electric Side) was on location prior to the fire departments arrival, investigating an underground electrical issue concerning wires that feed the building. Everyone had evacuated the building and shelter residents were sent to an alternate location for the remainder of the night. After an hour on location, units cleared the scene and were advised that everyone could return to their respective stations.
Including fire and EMS responses by fire units from Union Bridge, the day ended with a total of 8 calls, with all of the incidents averaging 15 personnel per call. Though this doesn't seem like a lot of calls for some larger departments, this amount of calls during a day when weather isn't an issue, is unusual for our department. |
