| On Thursday, April 16th at 4:49PM, Exeter Fire Crews and automatic aid companies were dispatched to the 1100 block of Claire Drive in Exeter Township for a reported structure fire with entrapment. Engine-Tanker 25 and Brush 25 were just clearing a mulch fire in the township when they were alerted to the structure fire. Deputy 25-1 (B. Rhein) and Deputy 25-2 (M. Eshenaur) immediately made the response as well.
Deputy 25-1 (B. Rhein) arrived on scene at 4:53PM and reported a working fire with neighbors reporting one victim still in the home. Deputy 25-2 (M. Eshenaur) arrived on scene and established Exeter command and reported heavy fire throughout the home with confirmed entrapment. Neighbors were reporting the victim to be in the center of the home and he could not get out due to being wheelchair bound. Neighbors broke out the window to the living room prior to FD arrival. Lt. 25 (Sixtos) assisted with clearing the window. Hearing the victim in the home, Deputy 25-1 (Rhein), without the protection of a hoseline, entered the home through a first floor window and located the victim and helped him to the window. Due to the size of the victim and the high density interior conditions of the home, he knew he could not extricate the patient himself, so he got the patient to the window as best he could, exited the window and gave his SCBA facepiece to the victim to help him breath clean air in the heavy smoke conditions until additional help arrived. By sacrificing his air supply for the patient, Deputy 25-1 was in the heavy smoke area without the protection of SCBA until the arrival of the next crew. Engine-Tanker 25 arrived at 4:55PM and secured it's own water supply and the crew immediately went in service to assist with the rescue. Rescue-Engine 25 arrived at 4:58PM and gave their crew to rescue operations as well. Exeter FF John Frantz, Exeter FF Colby Johnson, and Exeter FF Mike Kulp entered the window to the home and assisted with the extrication. Exeter FF Eric Wachter, Chief 25 (C. Jordan), Deputy 25-3 (J. Shaffer) , and Monarch FF John Babiec assisted with the extrication of the patient over a couch and through a window. Simultaneously, Exeter FF Codey Eshenaur pulled a 1 3/4" handline to protect the victim and the rescuers from the impeding flames and high heat. The victim was extricated from the building and handed to Gibraltar Captain Ken Imes and awaiting EMS crews. Other Exeter Fire crews were attempting to find access to the home on the opposite side of the rescue under challenging high density interior conditions. Exeter Sgt. Josh Young had the Engine-Tanker 25 pump panel with Jr. FF Aidrick Vize and maintained water supply for the crews on multiple handlines and Exeter Jr. FF Carson Rhein did a great job hooking up to the hydrant, which were both critical to the outcome of this incident. Many other Exeter and mutual-aid members assisted in the initial stages and we appreciate their help!
A quick response and aggressive actions resulted in a positive outcome of this incident!
Deputy 25-1 (B. Rhein) was transported by EMS to Reading Hospital for evaluation for smoke inhalation and was released later that evening.
The rescued victim was transported to Reading Hospital with burns and smoke inhalation. He is reported to be doing well and Deputy Rhein actually got to meet him at the hospital. We wish the victim the best on his recovery.
During the incident, Deputy 25-2 (M. Eshenaur) maintained command, while Chief 25 (C. Jordan), Deputy 25 (Lessig), and Deputy 25-3 (J. Shaffer) had operations on different sides of the building. Quint 6 was put into service for elevated master stream operations due to the conditions of the home and firefighters not being able to enter the inside of the home. A 2nd alarm was struck for manpower due to the initial crews being exhausted from the rescue and the hot weather conditions. MANY mutual aid partners were dispatched to assist and we appreciate all of them for coming out! Exeter Township road crew was called out for a back hoe to help with the overhaul stage of the fire due to the accumulated material inside the house.
The incident was placed under control at 6:28PM and all units cleared the scene at 8:55PM.
Great job to everyone involved! Overall the Exeter Township Volunteer Fire Department had over 30 personnel on scene to assist. |
