Tanker-22 was dispatched for a field fire in Washington Township. Elizabethville's Tom Welker recalls the incident as follows: A late afternoon call for a field fire was received. Standard procedure was for the 1964 Hahn to respond first. But, this day they had a problem which kept it from going out the door first. I told Assistant Chief Merle Hoover, Who was already commited to the '64, that we would go a while with the '82 Hahn. It was only a driver and myself as we cleared the door. We no sooner turned the corner onto Main Street when County called advising it may be a standing wheat field fire. "O Sh*t!", I said to Ed Engle, the driver. I radioed back to send Berrysburg's brush truck and tanker. Soon, the '64 Hahn and our tanker were on the road too. As we approached the scene, we observed a large wheat field burning with flames at spots going ten feet high. We drove past the row of houses behind Red Fox and went into the field at the Clair Engle farm. I told Ed to drive into the burnt area and we would try to stop it from travelling toward Engle's barn. I also told him of a story, when one time the driver/operator stayed at the wheel while the fire was put out. He stopped and I grabbed one section of 1?-inch hose and hooked it up to the officer's-side discharge, and went over to the pump panel and opened the discharge and tank valves. I told Eddie to just operate it from the driver's seat - to put it in gear and use the foot throttle. As we knocked down one section, he took the pump out of gear and we drove ahead to the next. We were making quick work of our flank, prevented the fire from getting to the barn, and stopped some of the fire's northerly progress. The '64 Hahn had stationed themselves behind the row of houses that we passed on the way in and began to wet down the wheat in advance of the rapidly approaching flames. (another trick we learned from the old guys) Chief Galen Lentz had arrived and requested additional resources from Lykens and Millersburg Companies. Between Berrysburg, Lykens, and Elizabethville tankers keeping the engines refilled, the fire was soon extinguished. In excess of 15 acres were burned clean to the ground. The fire was caused by Mr. Engle's bailer - It developed a motor problem and, while being driven back toward the barn, it kept dropping gas and a spark from the backfiring of the motor soon had a good fire going. Companies were out for several hours until all hot spots were secure.
Company 22 dispatched non-emergency to the Rattling Creek Apartments, room 101, for a lift assist. Engine 22 responded, and on arrival assisted EMS with tranferring patient to a transport unit.
2004
Accident w/injuries, Main & Arlington Sts (Box 22-1)
Companies 22 and 23 were dispatched for a two vehicle accident at the corner of Main and Arlington Streets. Engine-22 arrived on scene and found one vehicle located in the Lisi Gas Station parking lot and the other vehicle located approximately 100 feet West, in the grass in the front yard of a trailer at the intersection of Main and Arlington Streets, partially resting on the curb. All occupants of both vehicles were out and un-injured, refusing treatment. Engine-23 and Rescue-23 were placed in service. Personnel assisted with scene safety and cleanup until arrival of wreckers.
At the request of Lieutenant 22, Engine 22 was dispatched class 3 to 645 North Second Street for alarm bells sounding in a structure. Engine 22 responded with a crew of six and Chief 22 responded POV. Crews arrived on scene to find a 2?-story structure with multiple audible alarms sounding throughout the building, with what appeared to be heavy moisture on all windows. Lieutenant 22 had contacted the owner by telephone to advise of the situation, and the owner provided the location of keys to open the property. Entering the first floor, the inside temperature was found in excess of 100?F, with no smoke or odors present but a heavy moisture content throughout the interior. The crew unlocked the basement door on side-4 and entered to find the furnace boiling water away, with the safety valve activated, pushing large volumes of hot steam and hot water throughout the basement area. The furnace was shut down, and power to the building was shut off at the panel box. The crew opened up all windows in the property, and set up a fan in the basement doorway to exhaust the hot air to the outside. The owner arrived and the property was turned over to him. The box was placed in service.
2008
Smoke in a Structure, 533 E Main Street Hegins (Box S.C.)
Truck 22 was dispatched to Hegins for a report of smoke in the basement of 533 Main Street. The Truck responded with a crew of seven, and was canceled just as arriving on the scene.
Truck 22 and Tanker 24 from Dauphin County dispatched class one to 24 Parkers Lane in Porter Township, the village of Muir, for a basement fire. Porter Township companies Muir, Orwin, Sheridan, and Joliett dispatched through Schuylkill County. Truck 22 responded with 6 and Chief 22 POV. On arrival, the Truck was beached and the crew carried hand tools back a lane to side A of the structure, which at this time was showing fire throughout the first floor and venting out the second floor gable window. Two members laddered and went to the roof and vented the structure, while the rest of the crew laddered the rest of the building and started suppression. Command 650 struck the 2nd alarm, which brought Dauphin Engine 23 and Rescue 21 to the scene, along with Schuylkill Rescue 21 from Ravine and Sacramento Engine 14-10. Crews vented the C side gable and an initial knockdown was achieved, but fire had all ready traveled through several void spaces throughout the rest of the structure. Fire broke through the roof and had a run of the 2nd floor. A crew from Rescue 21 under the direction of Chief 21-2 went interior and worked their way to the second floor, and were able to get a knock on the fire. A member of Engine 647 fell through the first floor to the basement, and a mayday was called. Members from the manpower pool were able to remove the firefighter safely with no injuries. Ravine Rescue 21 arrived on scene and established the RIT assignment. A crew from Tanker 24 relieved the 22 roof crew and continued with venting. Control was marked, and a long evening of overhaul was undertaken. Crew assisted where needed with final extinguishment and overhaul activities. One of the 22 roof crew was taken to the hospital by EMS for dehydration and was returned home later in the evening. Command began releasing units and after completing their assignments, the 22 crew was placed available and returned.
2014
Smoke in a structure, 202 Center Street (Box 27-1)
Box 27-1 dispatched for a report of smoke in the Gratz fire station at 202 Center Street in Gratz. This sent companies 27, 26, 28, Rescue 23 and Truck 22. Command held the box to Company 27 before the truck responded.
Company 22 dispatched class one to assist EMS with a medical call at the Union House Apartments at 600 Main Street in Lykens. All three chiefs responded POV to the scene. Truck 22 responded with 5 and Utility 22 with 4. On arrival the Truck staged on the B side and the Utility on the D side and they sent manpower to the 4th floor. Crews assisted EMS from Company 24 and Medic 6 and once the patient was loaded on their litter were placed available by command.
Utility 22 dispatched class three at the request of Chief 24 to assist with traffic control while Company 24 worked on removing a large tree down in the area of 9565 Route 209 in Williams Township. Utility 22 responded with 4 and arrived at the intersection of Route 209 and Water Street to direct traffic. Penndot traffic management arrived on scene and set up just as another call for Truck 22 was coming in. Chief 24 released the Utility and they went enroute back to Station 22 for the Truck.
Truck 22 dispatched class one on the 21-1 box to the Swab Wagon Company at 44 South Callowhill Street in Elizabethville Boro for an automatic fire alarm. Utility 22 with 4 was on a traffic assignment in Williams Township and were released and responded back to Station 22 to man the Truck. Chief 21 placed the box in service, they were working on the system.
The 22-1 box alerted for a report of black smoke coming from the chimney at 421 Main Street in Lykens bringing the structure box response of companies 22, 23, 21, and 24. Chief 22 went enroute POV and on his arrival side A reported normal conditions at a 2 story wood frame dwelling with a hair salon on the first floor that was closed. Engine 22 responded with 4 and approached from the Market Street side and stopped short at the A/D corner. Command advised not to lay in to the scene. Truck 22 responded with 3 and approached from the West Street side and took the address. Command held the box to Company 22. Crews found access to the basement on the C side through bilko doors and entered the basement to find a malfunctioning furnace. Power to the furnace was shut down. The Truck crew set up and took the boom to the chimney top and ran the chains while the Engine crew set up a fan in the basement and pulled off the piping to the chimney. The chains were run in the chimney and the fan vented out the basement. The property owner on scene had contacted her furnace service company and they were sending a rep to examine the furnace. After clearing the basement and roof, the crews returned to service and Command placed the box available.
The section of calls we've responded to has been compiled from fire company records, newspapers, and other sources. Listings for years prior to 1981 might be incomplete.
2.
The listing of local incidents is for incidents that happened around our local area, including some from Lykens for which the fire company was not dispatched. It is certainly not a complete listing, and is not intended to be. It is included here for your entertainment. Incidents listed here have been gathered from public sources.
3.
The listing of other noteworthy incidents includes incidents from anywhere outside our local area (for which we were not dispatched). Also included in this section are historical events from our fire company, Lykens, or around the world. It is certainly not a complete listing, and is not intended to be. It is included here for your entertainment. Incidents and events listed here have been gathered from public sources.
4.
These lists can be filtered. Use the control section above to activate or de-activate filtering. Filtering will not affect the list of incidents we've responded to. But, it will be applied to both the other lists.
