The annual Fire Company Banquet was held on Saturday April  14 at the Four Seasons Complex.

The following received awards:

President and Chief Award – West Hempfield Township Supervisors.

Business of the Year – Phoenix Fire

Fire Police of the Year – Donald Kreider

Support Group member of the Year – June Kreider

Firefighter of the Year – Jason Sauder

Member of the Year – Joe Ney

Quick Response Service (QRS) member of the Year – Carol Wright

A Burn Ban goes into effect Friday, April 13, 2012 at 10:00 am. The Lancaster County Commissioners by Resolution No. 31 of 2012 and pursuant to the provisions of Act 1995-52 and Section 7501 of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Services Code establish a temporary 30 day countywide burn ban on all open outdoor burning. Any person who violates this Resolution commits a summary offense and shall upon conviction , be sentenced to a fine of not more than $100 for the 1st Offense and $300 for any subsequent offenses.

We constantly train for high angle type rescue mostly because of Chickies Rock located in our district. Chickies Rock is an area that overlooks the Susquehanna River and into York County. The lookout is part of the Lancaster County Parks System and is under their control. This area has been the site of numerous rescues and hikers in distress. On Tuesday April 3 at 7:34 PM dispatched to Chickies Rock for an environmental rescue. Upon arrival found a person had fallen about 100 feet from the Park overlook and was found at the bottom of the rock. Due to vegetation the access to the victim was fairly easy but removing the victim was a challenge. The male individual was packaged in a stokes litter and was carried from the area. Numerous firefighters were required to lift the victim over down trees. Once removed from the area the individual was turned over to Susquehanna Valley EMS and transported to the hospital. Assisting us with the rescue was Marietta Fire, Columbia No. 1, Columbia Consolidated and Susquehanna Fire Companies. Incident terminated around 8:30 PM. Incident under investigation by West Hempfield and Lancaster County Park Police.

Please complete and submit to Captain Wright’s Mailbox.
BBP quiz 2010 <– click to download

On Thursday at 1;25 PM dispatched to a reported 2 vehicle accident with entrapment on the Route 462 Bridge (Veterans Memorial Bridge) over the Susquehanna River between Columbia and Wrightsville Boroughs in the Township. Upon arrival found a Van had rear ended a 4 door sedan. Occupants of the auto had to be extricated and turned over to Susquehanna Valley EMS. Assistance provided by Columbia No.1, Susquehanna and Wrightsville Fire Companies. Columbia Borough Fire Police provided Traffic Control. Accident under investigation by West Hempfield Police Department. Incident completed at 2:20 PM.

On Saturday February 18th training was conducted at an abandoned acquired structure. The structure is going to be torn down and the Fire Company was given permission to conduct various types of training. Crews were able to practice forcible entry, initial attack, ventilation and search and rescue operations. Mountville and Rohrerstown Fire Companies participated with us in this realistic type training.

Dispatched on Tuesday February 21 at 8:00 AM to a reported structure fire with possible entrapment at 2346 Ironville Pike. Upon arrival found a three story duplex with heavy smoke from the second floor area. All occupants had escaped the home prior to our arrival. Initial attack contained the fire to a second floor bedroom. The East Side Duplex received smoke and water damage while the West side Duplex was not affected. Fire Chief Barry Carter estimated damage at $15,000 to the home and $5,000 to contents. The cause of fire is under investigation by a PA State Police Fire Marshal. Mutual aid assistance provided by Mountville Fire Company, Columbia No. 1 and Susquehanna Fire Company of Columbia Borough. Susquehanna Valley EMS provided medical support and our Fire Police were supported by Columbia Borough Fire Police.  American Red Cross was requested to assist the displaced family. All units in service by 11:00 AM.

Rescue 76 spend the night of February 18 at the request of the Susquehanna Fire Company (Hambones) Columbia in order for their members to attend their annual banquet and spent time with family and friends. This was our way of showing gratitude and support to one of our mutual aid companies.

On Friday February 12th dispatched at 11:50 AM for a reported 2 car vehicle accident with entrapment at the intersection of Kinderhook Road and State Route 23 in the Township. Upon arrival found one car on the roadway and the second car came to rest in a field off the roadway.  One person trapped in the vehicle located on the roadway was able to be removed without cutting. All occupants turned over to Susquehanna Valley Emergency Medical and investigation by West Hempfield Police. Area secured and termination at 12:53 PM. Assistance provided by Columbia Susquehanna Fire Company and Columbia Borough Fire Police.

We have received confirmation of the award of a 2012 PA State Grant in the amount of $12,297.83. This grant will allow the Fire Company to replace the current dilapidated Protective Clothing storage racks. The storage racks are made of wood and provide no ventilation and little protection for the safety of our protective clothing. The new racks will be of metal and portable. When our new station is built the racks will easily be transferred. This grant will improve our storage, protection and donning of our protective clothing.

On this final day of 2011 and as the clock counts down to 2012, we wish everyone a Happy, Prosperous, and Fire Safe New Year.

We have received a shipment of smoke detectors from TV 27 News of which we are grateful for their support of our services.

 To acquire a free smoke detector: Call 717-285-4929 – leave a message if no answer or email request to: firechief@westhempfieldfire.com .

We  remind everyone to change the batteries in your smoke detectors each time of the season when you change your clocks change the battery and test the smoke detector monthly.

“In 2003-2006, roughly two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from home fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
- No smoke alarms were present in 40% of the home fire deaths.
- In 23% of the home fire deaths, smoke alarms were present but did not sound.” (Provided by the National Fire Protection Association

“In more than half of the reported home fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate even though the fire was large enough, batteries were missing or disconnected. Nuisance alarms were the leading reason for disconnected alarms.” (Provided by the National Fire Protection Association

On Tuesday, November 15, the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners and Commissioners from other Counties unveiled South Central Alert.  This is an eight County regional mass notification system to be used to notify the public of serious emergencies.   It will enable Emergency Management officials to get disaster information to the general public in many cases.

The system currently has residential and business phone numbers from the white and yellow pages.  If a resident or business has an unlisted number, Voice over IP service such as Vonage, or does not have a wired line phone, they must register and enter the phone numbers into the system.

Lancaster County Citizens are urged to register their cell phones, texting devices and other communication methods in the secure system.  To do so, citizens should go to

https://www.sctfpa.org/scalert  and click on the link to sign up for alerts.  You can list up to five locations for which you want to be notified and up to 10 different methods for contacting them.  A video has been developed explaining the system and can be seen on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6wZUu6fQZE.

The system will provide early warnings and information, but does have some limitation.  For example, a county wide warning such as a Tornado, may take over 90 minutes for messages to be sent out due to the sheer number of calls, however,  a local emergency warning can go out in a matter of seconds,.  The system is another tool to convey clear, accurate information to our citizens in an emergency.

On Tuesday Nov. 1 dispatched at 8:47 PM to a reported unknown type fire at 4448 Miller Drive which is the Bridge Valley Park  located in the Farmdale area of the Township. Upon arrival found a small fire under a kids recreational play set. Fire was quickly extinguished and is under investigation.

On Sunday October 30 dispatched at 6:15 PM to a reported vehicle accident with entrapment on Chickies Hill Road, State Route 441 in the Township. Upon arrival found a 1 vehicle accident and vehicle was overturned on it’s side. Occupant was out of the vehicle. Crews provided fire protection and stabilized the vehicle. Susquehanna Valley EMS provided medical service. Columbia No. 1 Fire Company assisted  on the call. Under investigation by West Hempfield Police.