Early on the morning of March 30th the Siloam Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire at the beginning of the construction project surrounding the US 80/AL 17 intersection. Arriving units found the cab of the vehicle fully involved. One preconnect was placed into the service and the fire was quickly extinguished. Sure has been a busy five days for the Siloam station.
Members from the Cuba, Ward, Whitfield, Siloam, and Belmont-McDowell Fire Departments came together on Saturday, March 27th to conduct pump tests and hose testing for all equipment. Members worked just over twelve hours to complete this task that is vital to the effectiveness and safety of all the departments involved. A light lunch was provided and a full supper was provided to all members that were present.
Whitfield VFD loading the hosebed of their engine.
Members unloading Cuba Engine 1 to inspect and test the hose.
Firefighter Richard Breland unloading the Ward engine to inspect the hose.
Firefighter Paul Deloach (Siloam) washing some hose that was in need of attention.
Captain Culpepper (Cuba) and Asst. Chief Hughes (Siloam) work on the radio in Chief Vaughan’s truck. Nothing would get done without these two.
Various types of hose spread out for testing.
Engineer Scrivner running the pump on engine 1 to supply the hose testing machine.
Chief Vaughan doing what he does best!
Chief Josh Smith (Belmont-McDowell) marking hose.
The Chef… Firefighter Mark Stallings (Cuba) prepares and then samples the food to make sure it is safe!
Just hours after assisting the Boyd Fire Department the Siloam Fire Department was dispatched to the scene of structure fire in the 2000 block of Bennett 13. Chief Pendergrass arrived on scene and requested that Livingston Fire Department be notified of the emergency since the location was less than 100 yards from the police jurisdiction of the city. Livingston Fire arrived to assist and the fire was quickly brought under control. Ward Fire assisted by moving up to cover the Siloam coverage area in the event of an emergency. Again, teamwork and training paid off! The home was heavily damaged but was not a complete loss due to the quick action of all firefighters involved.
Lt. Sharp (Livingston FD) opens the wall in the heavily damaged end of the trailer so that crews could make certain that the fire was out.
Chief Vaughan (Cuba) speaks with crews about to complete the overhaul of the structure.
Safety Officer Holder mans the pump of Siloam Engine 1
Chief Pendergrass (Siloam)
Asst. Chief Hughes (Siloam) manning the pump on the Siloam Tanker.
It is nice to see the system work as it should. Dispatch notified Boyd Fire of a structure fire in their coverage area. Boyd Fire was without an engine due to a mechanical failure and units from neighboring areas responded. Several Boyd Fire units responded to the scene to stand by for supporting agencies that were responding. The first unit to arrive on the scene was Chief Vaughan (Cuba Fire) and the first engine to arrive on the scene was Siloam E1 under the command of Captain Brooks. A handline was deployed to the rear of the structure and the fire was darkened down until enough units were on scene to enter the structure and put out the hot spots. When sufficient numbers were present crews went into the structure to pull the ceiling in the center of the mobile home and verify that the fire was out. When the structure was declared secure the homeowner had at least some belongings to collect and one bedroom remained unburned. The hard work of all crews certainly made this possible. It is certainly not this often that mobile homes can be checked and saved.
Boyd VFD was assisted by apparatus from the Siloam, Livingston, Emelle, and York Fire Departments. Chief Porter from the Bluffport VFD responded to the scene to assist and Coatopa-Dug Hill, Ward, and Kinterbish Fire Departments moved up for standby to cover the territory left vacant by responding stations. A great job by all!
There is a chance of severe weather impacting the area on Thursday evening and into Friday morning. The SPC has outlooked our area for a slight risk of severe weather. At the moment it is the standard risk and severe parameters do not look over impressive. However, the numbers are coming up as the models get a better handle on the system. Further, this will be the first system in a while that will have any surface based instability to work with. This will give what storms that do form a better chance of getting some organization. At the present time the modeled parameters look like the stronger storms will be off to our North (along highway 82), but with thunderstorms it is always best to expect the unexpected.
It is time for annual test day again… This Saturday morning at 0800 we will kick off with pump and hose tests for all apparatus in the area. A meal will follow the work session and will likely consist of catfish. Please make you plans to attend this very important training/work session.
Another Saturday and yet another tower project… We will soon be done with all the work to install and maintain the new VHF fire channel in the county. Today we made it a long way toward that goal with the removal of the tower at North Sumter Junior High School and Livingston Junior High School. Both of these 140′ towers will go into service over the next few months to bring the Siloam Repeater up to the correct height and allow the North Sumter Fire Department to go online with the new system. Special thanks to all that were involved in the project and a very special thanks to Asst. Chief Harry Hughes (Siloam) for serving as the PE on this one. Things wouldn’t get done without the direction of Harry!
The AAVFD Region Three planning meeting was held at the Alabama Fire College this evening. Asst. Chief Hughes (Siloam) and Chief Vaughan (Cuba) were in attendance. The meeting was held to cover the subject of the scheduled AAVFD State Convention in July of this year. The Conference is scheduled to be held at the Alabama Fire College campus in Tuscaloosa and plenty of information about the work that needs to be done and the events that are scheduled will be sent along in the next few weeks. Every department needs to purchase an advertisement in the program to make this years conference a huge success.
The threat of severe weather is looming again for this weekend. It looks as though it will be a marginal event, but the threat of severe weather was not even present 36 hours ago. With the rapid genesis of this threat we should follow it carefully. Further, it is possible that this threat could move through during the overnight hours when surface based CAPE will be the lowest.
This is a last minute announcement due to some issues with getting up with the parties involved… There will be a tower workday this Saturday. Anyone who can assist with the work should contact Asst. Chief Hughes to find the meeting location and such. We are very close to completing this long running project and certainly could use all hands on deck. More details tomorrow!
