| At 0611 hours on March 13, Avondale Fire Company and neighboring mutual aid companies were dispatched to the 500 Block of Bartram Road in West Marlborough Township for a reported residential structure fire.
Engine and Ambulance 23 made the response right after dispatch. Responding units were advised that the caller was reporting flames from the home. While heading up to the scene, Ambulance 23-1 had fire visible from Newark Road and Route 1 Bypass and immediately requested the working fire dispatch.
Arriving units confirmed Ambulance 23-1's report and also requested the first alarm tanker task force due to no fire hydrants in the area. During the incident, a fill site was established at the nearby Bowling Green Inn hydrant. The purpose of the fill site is to refill tanker trucks to get them back in service as quickly as possible and back to the scene.
Engine 23 arrived as the first due engine, dropping their supply line at the end of the driveway and then going into service with an attack line for fire suppression. Kennett's Assistant Chief 24 established the command post for the duration.
Squad and Tanker 23 followed suit. Squad 23 arrived and secured the water supply for Engine 23. Crews then entered the structure and conducted primary searches to check for anyone that could still possibly be inside the structure, fortunately search results were negative. Squad 23 crews also assisted with opening up the walls and ceilings to find any hidden fires.
Crews operated for up to five hours getting the fire placed under control. Final units cleared just after 1100 hours.
Though suppression efforts were aggressive, around 0034 the next morning, multiple calls came in to the Chester County 911 Center reporting that the house had rekindled and was on fire again.
Crews arrived to find heavy fire coming from the structure. Longwood's Fire Chief 25 assumed command and requested the operation to be exterior only as well as another tanker task force. Crews utilized the ladder pipe from West Grove's Ladder 22 and Longwood's Ladder 25 to knock down the bulk of fire while additional attack lines were also used to drown the fire.
Final crews cleared the second incident at 0523 hours. |
