As the first winter snow feel from the sky, calls began to be dispatched one after another for accidents all around the county. At about 2315, Company 70 along with 62 and the medics were sent to I-95 at I-476 for an accident. Engine 70 quickly responded with a staffing of five, followed by the Air Unit, Ambulance, and Tac. As units were enroute to the first accident, another accident was reported on I-95 Northbound at mile marker 7.2 for a tractor trailer down and embankment with entrapment and fire. All Ridley Township units were quickly redirected to this accident, and other units were added to cover the two other accidents in the area. Engine 70 arrived and reported a truck down a ’75 foot steep embankment into a tree. After a quick assessment, it was determined that the truck was not able to be accessed from I-95, and all units were to enter from Boeing. Engine 79 (Boeing) was on scene reporting one person trapped and began extrication efforts. Engine 70 and Rescue 62 arrived on the Boeing property and assisted with removing the patient from the wreckage. Once the patient was removed, they were loaded in Ambulance 70 and transported to the hospital with several medics on board.
 
The units from 70, 62, and 79 remained on location for several hours assisting the tow truck with removing the truck from the embankment. Units went available at 0230.

On Monday evening, with a Flyers Winter Classic loss still fresh in their minds, the crew gathered for a night of training. The evening started out with each crew member having to fully donn the SCBA in under a minute. Each member was well under a minute on their first attempts, and continued to improve their times as the night went on.
After everyone had an opportunity to practice donning in under a minute, the crew split up into two teams for a relay race. The two teams of four were facing each other to see what team could have all four crew members successfully paked up in the fastest time. One air pak was used for each team. Once the moderator gave the go signal, the first crew member from each team would pak up as fast as possible. Once completed, they would quickly take the pak off and pass it to the next crew member to continue. In all three races were completed, and regardless of the winner, a good time was had by all.

It is with great pride that I formally present Michael Kelly as Chief of the Department. Michael is a 20+ year member of Leedom and has always been our driving force. He is our motivation to continuously improve the department and to become better firemen. I could not have been the Chief I was without Michael at my side steering the company in the direction we needed. Nor would I have been the Chief I was without the support of the entire company. The Members deserve the credit for our improvement and for continuously striving to be “Combat Ready”. We all look forward to serving the community and the surrounding area with Michael at the helm.
Respectfully,
Jay Mensack, Deputy Chief 
Here is the lineup for 2012
Chief, Michael Kelly
Deputy Chief, Jay Mensack
Assistant Chief, Tom Silpath Jr
Captain, Chris Close
Captain, Jim Kohlbrenner
Lieutenant, Todd Buddy
Engineers Remain, Steve Yeager, Jim Headly

When talking about total fire responses for a year, 222 is certainly not anything to brag about. Heck, some departments do that in a month. But, when your department responded to 47 total calls for the year just a few years ago, and had never responded to 222 calls in a single year in its history, it is something to be proud of. Obviously, to increase your call volume by 480% in just six years requires some big changes and great leadership.


It is certainly no coincidence that Chief Jay Mensack took over as Chief of the department six years ago. Chief Mensack is the leader that drove the company to do bigger and better things. The increase in call volume is just a small sampling of all of the changes that have occurred under Chief Mensack. The company now prides itself on having a combat ready mentality, has a very successful sleep in program, and has a crew that is dedicated to training and learning everything they can about the job. All of this is a testament to Chief Mensacks leadership and motivation.

Even though this is all about how Leedom Fire Company has responded to the most calls in its history, we are still the first ones to say it is not a lot of responses by any stretch of the imagination, which makes the dedication the crew has to the job even more impressive. It is a lot easier to be excited and dedicated to the job when you are responding to several calls a day, and catching a good amount of working fires. But when you are only going to a few calls a week, and a handful of working fires a year, it is not as easy. The entire crew deserves a lot of credit for not only coming to calls, but wanting to be the best they can be at the job, and having a dedication to training that is unmatched by most.

We look forward to serving our community with the same amount of dedication and professionalism that they have come to expect from their firefighters. Also, the crew looks forward to serving under Chief Mensack for what is sure to be another successful year for the Leedom Fire Company. Happy Holidays everybody, and here's to a safe, happy, and healthy New Year.  

On Friday night the crew got together to complete more upgrades for the Engine, this time in the form of new hose. The new hose consisted of 550’ of 1 ½” for both crosslays and the bumper line, 400’ of 1 ¾” hose for the 400’ preconnected line, and 800’ of 3” hose. The crew took all of the old hose off, made some adjustments to the 5”, and packed all of the new hose onto the Engine. A humat was also added to the rear step for the 800’ of 3” hose which will now be used for supply line on all first due residential fires.

The final tally for hose on Engine 70 after the modifications:

150’ 1 ½” bumper line with a combination break-apart nozzle

Two 200’ crosslays with smoothbore nozzles

400’ 1 ¾” line with a smoothbore nozzle

250’ 2 ½” line with a smoothbore nozzle

800’ of 3” supply line with a humat

1000’ of 5” supply line

The task took about four hours to complete. Despite the cold weather being upon us, the crew is looking forward to breaking in the new hose in the coming weeks.
 

The Company was dispatched to the 1700 block of Liberty Road in the Woodlyn Section of Ridley Township for a dwelling with possible entrapment. First arriving crews from 67 (Woodlyn),had fire throughout the first floor and put a line in service. Engine 70 arrived and was ordered to search the residence. With all searches negative, the crew assisted with the remainder of tasks including fire suppression, ventilation and opening up. Thou the incident was under control at the 20 mark, the crew remained on scene for nearly three hours.

This morning, the company was dispatched to I-95 South for the accident with reported injuries. The Engine, Ambulance and Air Unit made the response. Rescue 62 arrived first to find a multivehicle accident with 2 injuries. Members assisted Rescue 62 on scene with miscellaneous tasks and the Ambulance transported 1 patient.

 
The week started off steady on the EMS side of things, as the Ambulance handled 4 calls during our night crew shift, which goes from Monday to Sunday, from 2400-0600. Every shift will once again be handled by a 100% VOLUNTEER crew, as always.

As we reach the 10 year anniversery of September 11, 2001, please take the time to remember and honor those who perished on that day.

As Hurricane Irene was making its way up the East coast members of Leedom were preparing for the worst. By Friday August 26th, most of the pre-storm, preparations were completed. By Saturday morning as the members were conducting a drill to hone their skills with the throw bags the rains began to fall. At 16:00 The Chief and Deputy attended a briefing at the Ridley Township municipal building for the purposes of establishing the EOC and to discuss the Evacuation Center capabilities and the responsibilities of the fire chiefs. As the remaining members returned to the station, Chief 70 and Ridley Township Commissioner, Mike McCrea started out to the problem areas to assess conditions prior to the brunt of the storm.
At the height of the storm Chief 70 determined that the first floor of the Parkwood Towers apartments would need to be evacuated as the waters in the Stoneybrook creek were just 6 inches from cresting the flood wall. 12 apartments were evacuated and the residents were taken to the evacuation center. That’s when the calls started pouring in. During the storm the company answered several water rescue calls, wires calls trees on homes, trees in the roadway, pump outs and an accident on Sunday afternoon. 12 calls for the Engine Company and 9 EMS calls were handled by 18 members who manned the station during the storm.

The day started at 02:23 when the ambulance went out for a medical emergency at the same time the engine went out for an investigation. Upon arrival of Chief 709 there were two trash cans that had burned with extension to a deck and a car. The fire was put out by a neighbor who noticed the fire. The crews checked for hot spots and company 70 and 62 were available.
At 07:52 Company 70 and 62 were sent to the I-476 north ramp from I-95 north for a MVC with injuries. Chief 709A, who was in the area arrived first to a one vehicle accident with one minor injury. Upon the arrival of Rescue 62, Chief 629 held the assignment to Rescue 62.
The next two calls were for a medical emergency and an engine assist to EMS. However this is where the day changed. As the torrential rains fell over the mid-Atlantic for a period of several hours the calls started to pile up. At 13:59, Engine 70’s crew was sent to Prospect Park (08) for a water rescue. Engine 8’s command reported vehicle in the water under a railroad trestle with the occupant out of the vehicle. Engine 70 was made available. As the Engine was backing into the station 14:35, they were sent to 4th and Kedron in Folsom (18), for a water rescue. TAC 18’s command reported a disabled vehicle, occupant out and to safety. At 14:51 yet another dispatch for a water rescue, this time in the 200 block of Winona Ave in Holmes (43). 43’s command reported a vehicle in the water with the occupant freed and moved to safety.
At 17:58 the company 62, 70 and the Medic were dispatched to 95 south for a MVC. Rescue 62 arrived first with a two vehicle accident one minor injury. The Engine and Rescue provided a safe zone for the medic and PSP and cleared a short time later.