Thursday afternoon around 1530 hrs. the WSBF was dispatched to an auto accident with entrapment.  While responding Chief 1-13 (Beasley) was advised the accident involved a vehicle into a structure.  The box was immediately upgraded to the first alarm box assignment at the request of Chief 1-13.  Chief 1-A (Wurster) arrived to find a vehicle through a garage over an embankment with the driver still inside the vehicle.  At 1547 hrs. Command 1 marked extrication complete.  The patient wasn’t pinned or crushed inside the vehicle, merely confined due to the position of the vehicle against other objects.

Continue Reading »

You can’t touch it, can’t taste it, can’t see it and you can’t smell it.  It’s a gas that can cause illness at low levels of exposure and can be fatal at high levels.  Symptoms can vary from person to person based on health, age and length of exposure. 

Do I own items that cause Carbon Monoxide?  Automobiles, wood-burning fireplaces, wood burning stoves, and gas stoves are sources.  Almost every home has an automobile so the the precautions are for a particular situation really.  We’ll get to that in a moment. 

With the exception of automobiles, if you own any of these other appliances, you should purchase a Carbon Monoxide detector for your home.  These detectors are designed to alert those in the home of the build up of Carbon Monoxide before the average adult would begin to experience symptoms.  One detector on every floor of the home is the ideal scenerio for protection. 

Now back to the topic of how automobiles can be a factor.  If you park your car in a garage the possibility exists of building up Carbon Monoxide in your home from the vehicle running inside the garage.  Don’t let your vehicle run inside the garage for more then a couple of seconds.  The longer the vehicle runs inside the garage, the greater the risk of Carbon Monoxide build up.  While the vehicle is running be sure to keep the garage door open.  Never start the vehicle or keep the vehicle running with the garage door closed.  Again, it’s important to have a Carbon Monoxide detector in the home to detect the build up of Carbon Monoxide from the exhaust. 

 My alarm is going off, what do I do?  Call 9-1-1 and evacuate the house.  The Fire Company will come out and check the house for the problem.  They will monitor the home with special equipment to try to pinpoint the source of the Carbon Monoxide.  If the source is detected the Fire Company will isolate it and advise you of the best solution to fix the problem.  The Fire Company doesn’t fix these problems but they’ll point you in the right direction to help you get in touch with the right people for the task.

 Questions about Carbon Monoxide?
Contact the Fire Commissioners Office.
737-2924

Monday morning of January 26th, the Air Wagon responded to 74 N. 17th St. in Harrisburg City on the second alarm assigment for a House Fire.  The Air was committed for a few hours filling cylinders for crews on the scene.  Engine 3-13 spent the early morning hours on stand by in Harrisburg Station 1 until the City Boys were clear of the incident.