On The Job: Pennsylvania - Firefighter Emergencies Test Safety & Accountability Procedures
PHILIPSBURG FIRE DEPARTMENT
Chief: Jeff Harris
Personnel: 60 volunteer firefighters
Apparatus: Two pumpers, one tower ladder; one quint, one heavy rescue; two utility vehicles; two brush units
Population: 11,771
Area: 224 square miles
On Saturday, Aug. 13, 2005, a six-alarm fire destroyed two three-story buildings that contained nine occupied apartments located over five commercial occupancies. More than 200 firefighters from 17 departments in two counties responded. With two firefighter emergencies occurring at the same time, along with several cases of heat exhaustion, fireground communications and firefighter safety and accountability issues were raised during and after the incident. Another lesson focused on the need for fire departments to maintain updated pre-plans of older structures in their jurisdictions.
The wood-frame buildings with brick facing were constructed in 1876. The roofs were supported with 10-by-10-inch wood trusses covered with wood planks and asphalt shingles. One building occupied 30 feet of frontage on Front Street and was 110 feet deep. The other building was L-shaped and occupied 40 feet of frontage on Front Street and 50 feet along on Presqueisle Street. The buildings contained battery-operated smoke alarms, but no other type of fire detection or protection systems. Businesses on Front Street included Carole’s Kitchen, which occupied one building and contained two occupied apartments on the second floor. The only access to these apartments was from the rear of the building (side C). The L-shaped building was occupied on Front Street by Rachel’s Bakery and an office for Pennsylvania State Senator John Wozniak. This building contained seven apartments on the second floor with access from Presqueisle and Front streets. Occupying the storefronts on the Presqueisle Street side of the building were the William Spanogle Barbershop and the Life Line Mercy Mission. The third floors of both buildings were unused attic space. The B exposure on Front Street was a two-story brick building occupied by a Dollar General store that was closed for the night. The D exposure on Front Street was an adjoining three-story, wood and brick building measuring 65 by 65 feet that occupied the corner of Front and Presqueisle streets. Occupying that space was C&M Sports, also closed.
The Philipsburg Fire Department, comprised of the Hope and Reliance fire companies, was dispatched at 8:28 P.M. Also dispatched were Chester Hill Hose Company Engine 14, Columbia Fire Company Engine 22-2, Morris Township Fire Company Engine 17 and Houtzdale Fire Company Squad 23. Philipsburg Assistant Chief Tim Townsend and his wife, also a firefighter, were waiting at the Hope fire station for Engine 11-10 to return from a parade when a passerby advised them of the fire. They responded and found heavy fire on the second floor on side C. Bystanders were reporting people calling for help on the second floor. Townsend assumed command and immediately requested a second alarm. A unit from Moshannon Valley Emergency Medical Services started building evacuation at the rear of Carole’s Kitchen. This crew located two occupants inside the building and removed them. Townsend established a command post on Front Street and began placement of incoming units. First-in Reliance Truck 12-16 was positioned on Front Street and its crew was assigned to search and rescue on the second floor of Rachel’s Bakery. Reliance Engine 12-10’s four-person crew advanced two handlines to the second floor of Rachel’s Bakery to search for extension. Firefighters also placed a line into service from the rear fire escape into a second-floor window in the Carole’s Kitchen building, but could not gain access to the third floor due to the rapidly advancing fire.
Responding on the second alarm were Engine 13-10 from the Mountain Top Fire Company of Sandy Ridge, Houtzdale Engine 23-1, Madera Fire Company Tower 25, Tower 1 from the Clearfield Fire Department and Tower 6 from the Lawrence Township Fire Department. Engine 13-10’s crew advanced two handlines into the apartments on the second floor over Rachel’s Bakery. Engine 23-1 laid 400 feet of supply line to supply Truck 5-16.
Townsend assigned Chester Hill Engine 14 to supply Reliance Truck 12-16, but Reliance Quint 12-27 arrived first and was given the assignment. Engine 14 was redirected to lay 800 feet of supply line to a position behind the M&T Bank on Laurel Street and wait for next-in Tower 6. Townsend requested a third alarm at 8:41. Responding were Port Matilda Fire Company Engine 15-10, Winburne Fire Company Squad 18, Madera Fire Company Rescue 25 and Columbia Fire Company of Osceola Mills Engine 22-1. Engine 15-10 supplied Tower 2-16 as Engine 22-1 was staged in a parking lot and supplied manpower. With units from two counties operating on two different radio systems, Townsend asked Chester Hill Chief Rick Loughhead to respond to the command post, where he was assigned Clearfield County radio operations.
Hope Rescue 11-1’s crew was assigned to assist Reliance Truck 12-16 with search and rescue operations. With the delayed response of Hope Engine 11-10 from the nearby Sandy Ridge Fire Company parade, Townsend assigned it to lay a 400-foot supply line to side C. The crew then advanced a handline to the apartments over Carole’s Kitchen and began an attack on the main fire rooms. Firefighters could operate from this position for only for a few minutes due to heavy fire conditions and arcing power lines before being evacuated. Another crew placed an exterior attack line into operation at the rear of the building.
Prior to the arrival of the additional aerials, the fire jumped the roof to a second structure that shared a common wall with the fire building. Search and rescue crews completed their primary search with no findings. Once the second structure became involved, an evacuation and personnel accountability report (PAR) were requested at 9:18. Truck 5-16 from the Alpha Fire Company in State College was assigned as the rapid intervention team. Just as the assignment was being given, Baughman reported that one firefighter had not exited the building. He advised command that he had fresh firefighters from Philipsburg and sent them in with tools to search for the missing firefighter. At the same time, a request came from side A for EMS to report to C&M Sporting Goods for a firefighter down.
With two firefighter emergencies going on at the same time, Centre County Dispatch went into a Mayday operation. Incident command, side B/C command and rapid intervention team operations were kept on fireground radio Channel 2 and all other operations were moved to Channel 3. It was determined that the firefighter who was seen inside, but who had not exited with the others, was Reliance Firefighter Gary Sanker. It was soon determined that the firefighter reported down at C&M was Sanker, who had exited the building on side A. He was suffering from heat exhaustion. Immediately following this medical incident, Sanker’s partner, Firefighter Pat Gilham, also went down with heat exhaustion.
Townsend requested the Centre County Mobile Command Unit to be dispatched to the scene and notified the Centre County Emergency Management Agency. The next-in truck, Clearfield Borough Truck 1, was assigned to side C with Engine 11-10 to protect the side B exposure. The second-in truck, Truck 6 from the Hyde Volunteer Fire Department, was assigned to set up on Laurel Street to protect the exposure on side B, supplied by Engine 14.
At 9:30, there was noticeable structural weakening at the tops of the A and C sides of the buildings where the roof trusses were set. Smoke was pushing from between the mortar joints at the tops of the walls and there was also an outward bow in the tops of the walls. Command established a collapse zone and limited the working area. Truck 1 was repositioned out of the collapse zone. At 9:36, operations were changed to a defensive mode and master streams began operating. At 9:43, Townsend requested a fourth alarm, soon followed by a fifth alarm for manpower. At 10:27, he requested a sixth alarm, but Centre County advised that the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system didn’t have a sixth alarm listed. Townsend said hydrant pressure on the municipal water system had been lost and requested that the sixth alarm be called for a tanker shuttle from a creek a half mile away.
At 10:39, command received a request from the nursing supervisor at Moshannon Heights, a nearby seven-story assisted-living facility, to evacuate the residents because smoke was entering the building. Pleasant Gap Rescue 8-18 had just arrived on scene and was assigned to assist in the evacuation of 25 elderly people.
At the height of the fire, six aerial master streams and six deck guns and portable monitors were in operation. While the master streams operated, crews continually evaluated the conditions of the adjoining buildings threatened by the fire. The master streams made significant progress in controlling the fire by 10:50 P.M. and were shut down so that crews could resume the interior attack. A safety officer and a rapid intervention team were positioned on each side of the operation. Throughout the operation, three additional firefighters suffered from heat exhaustion. Townsend declared the fire under control at 2:25 A.M. on Aug. 14. Philipsburg units remained on the scene until 1:35 P.M. that day, but were dispatched to the scene again on Aug. 15 at 8:25 A.M. for a rekindle.
Damage was estimated at over $1 million. The fire, not considered suspicious, originated in a second-floor apartment above Carole’s Kitchen. On Aug. 24, an After Action Review was held. The most important item discussed was the fact that there were no major injuries. Concerns about communications also were voiced. Philipsburg operates via Centre County 911, an 800-MHz trunked system, and most of Philipsburg’s mutual aid comes from Clearfield County, which operates a 400-MHz repeated system. It was determined that a Clearfield County chief will be assigned to the command post for the duration of any incident. Firefighter safety and accountability were also areas of concern. It was also noted that safety officers and rapid intervention teams need to be established earlier in the incident. The fire department has expressed concerns with the age and conditions of the buildings in downtown Philipsburg, and has helped the Borough Code Enforcement Office conduct building inspections and compile floor plans.
Jay K. Bradish/IFPA, Firehouse® news editor, is a former captain in the Bradford Township, PA, Fire Department. He has been a volunteer firefighter and fire photographer for more than 25 years.
