FF Brian Duddy is featured in this week's "Loudoun Extra", an online publication of "The Washington Post". Check it out here.
For the details of Company 1's new tanker, please visit our news section by clicking here.
Click here for an MVA with minor
entrapment from November 4th.
In the early morning hours of November 2nd, Companies
1, 10, 5, 6, and 13 were alerted for a structure fire
on Hancock Place, N.E. Initial reports included information that residents were trapped in the fire. Leesburg
Police units were the first to arrive and they found one resident already out of the building and another just
inside the door. They assisted both residents to EMS units. Wagon 1, Rescue 13 and Truck 1 arrived on the scene just
after PD and put a quick knock on the fire while performing a primary search. No other occupants were found.
Engine 10 and Engine 1 checked side Charlie exposure for extension and found none. Battalion 602 (Wright) had command. Units remained on the scene for about 2 hours performing salvage and overhaul. The two residents were transported to a local hospital and then airlifted to a more suitable facility. The Loudoun County Fire Marshal's Office is handling the investigation.
Click here for more pictures.
The "old fireman's tale" of fires happening in threes was proven once again this week in Leesburg. On Wednesday, our career staff responded to a fire in an unoccupied townhouse in the Exeter neighborhood. They quickly contained a fire that may have started near the stove in the kitchen.
Tonight (Oct. 30th), the second in the string was dispatched at about 1830 hours. This time, it was a fire in a mobile home at the Leesburg Mobile Park. Companies 1, 5, 6, 10, and 13 were dispatched to the fire. Ambulance 13-5 arrived first followed by Chief 1, Safety Officer 601 and EMS 601. Chief 1 established command and advised this would be a working fire. There was smoke showing from the Delta side upon arrival, and that quickly gave way to fire showing. Reserve Truck 1 was the first suppression piece on the scene, as Wagon 1 was tied up on a fire alarm call.
Truck 1's crew made every effort to control the fire with various extinguishers. Wagon 5, the first arriving engine, pulled an attack line and made quick work of the fire on the inside, while a second line was pulled for exposure protection. Truck 1's crew performed a primary search, finding no one inside. Once the bulk of the fire was extinguished, crews pulled back to allow the Fire Marshal access for his investigation. In the end, Company 1 had Wagon 1, Engine 1, Reserve Tanker 1, Reserve Truck 1, Command 1, and Chief 1 on the scene.
After about 50 minutes, command scaled back the incident, releasing Tower 6, Reserve Engine 6, Engine 1, and Engine 10. With several units still on the scene, command received a message from the Loudoun ECC, advising they were dispatching another fire in Leesburg and wondering if any units were available from the fire ground. Command released Reserve Tanker 1, Wagon 1, holding only Wagon 5 and Reserve Truck 1.
The second fire of the night, and the third in the string, was on Catoctin Circle S.W., in a strip shopping center. It was dispatched just over an hour after the first fire. A charcoal fueled cooking device had caught fire in a restaurant. With units released from the mobile home fire, as well as other units in Leesburg for the station fill, this fire was quickly controlled. Battalion 602 (Wright) and EMS 601 (Dahl) had cleared the mobile home fire and handled command duties for the restaurant fire. No one was injured on either incident, though a family was displaced from the mobile home.
On Monday, October 27th, residents of Company 1's first due service area
will begin receiving flyers for our annual fund raising campaign. This effort provides
critical funding needed to help continue our tradition of service to Leesburg and the
surrounding communities.
We urge everyone in our service area to make as generous a contribution as they can. As mentioned in the flyer, we've recently taken delivery of three 2007 Seagrave vehicles, two pumpers and a tractor-drawn aerial. The total cost of acquiring these three pieces of apparatus and equipping them totals approximately 2 million dollars. Donations from the community are crucial to our continued ability to purchase and maintain a modern fleet of apparatus with which to serve residents of our community.
Thank you for your past generosity. We hope you'll continue to support us through your tax-deductible donation during our annual campaign.
It was a busy night
on the roads of Leesburg last night, as Duty Crew 2 handled a couple of auto accidents.
For more details and pictures, click here.
For more pictures
and video from the natural gas fire, click here.
Our annual
Open House was once again a big success. Beautiful weather greeted our visitors as we showed
off our fire station and apparatus during Fire Prevention Week. Fire truck rides were the most
popular, though the crowd enjoyed seeing our vehicle extrication demonstration as well as the
Aircare helicopter as well. Hot dogs, popcorn and drinks were available to all who wanted them. We also
had the large "hazard house" from Loudoun County to help teach kids and parents what to do when their smoke
alarm sounds.
Thanks to FF Roy Dunseith for making the arrangements for this year's events, as well as all the members of the fire company who prepared the station for visitors and made sure everyone felt welcome while they visited. For a few pictures from the event, click here. (Photos courtesy of Associate Member Steve Kusterer.)
As many of you know, there was a significant house fire in Leesburg on May 25th. Six personnel who responded to that fire were injured, some of them seriously. One of the injured was John Earley, a Master Firefighter with Company 1. John was operating in his career role that day, but he is a member of our family as well. In light of the long road ahead for John and his family, the Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company is reaching out to help them.
The easiest way to help is to make a donation directly to the fund we've established to benefit John and his family. To do so, you can mail a check to:
| The John Earley Relief Fund c/o Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company P.O. Box 23 Leesburg, VA 20178 |
| If you prefer, you can make a contribution using your credit card via PayPal. Just click the "Donate" button to get started. |
Thank you for your support.
The Leesburg
Town Council voted 6-1 to uphold the Board of Architectural Review's approval
of Company 1's design for a new fire station, to be built on the site of
the current Station 1. This vote, taken at the March 11th Town Council Meeting,
is the latest step in a long process to replace our aging building in the town's
historic district with a more modern facility from which to serve residents of the
town and surrounding area.
With this approval now affirmed, the fire company can move to the next phase of the project. We'll keep you posted as progress is made.
As mentioned at our last company meeting, all members of the fire company need to obtain certification in NIMS courses. These courses teach public safety personnel how to use and interact with the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Having all public safety personnel fluent in the language of this plan enhances our own operations, as well as operations that involve other public safety entities.
Please visit this link to register for and take NIMS classes online. There is no cost to public safety personnel. The courses we should take, at a minimum, are:
You'll need to register before taking the classes, but it can all be done online. If you experience problems or need more information, please contact your officer or one of the chiefs. When you obtain certifications, please place copies in the secretary's and chief's mailbox.
Recently, you may have received phone calls from solicitors claiming to be collecting money for Company 1 or "local firefighters" as they like to say. Please be aware that these solicitations are not sanctioned by our organization, and to our knowledge, we've never seen a single penny from any contributions made to them.
That said, please be aware that we do rely heavily on your support and generosity. In 2005, 49 percent of our operating funds came from donations made by individuals, businesses and from our own fundraising efforts. (For details on our finances, please click here.)
"What fundraising efforts do we perform?", you may ask. There are several!
Additionally, you can make a donation using your credit card via PayPal by clicking on the "Make a Donation" button to the right. If you prefer to send a check directly to us, please send it to:
Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company
P.O. Box 70
Leesburg, VA 20178-0070
Your donations are tax-deductible, so please consider giving generously to our organization so that we can continue to provide you the finest fire and rescue services available in Loudoun County! We truly appreciate and value the support we receive from you, the citizens we serve.
Draft October meeting minutes in Member's Section
Even more pictures from the Creighton Farms Fire
Updated pictures from the Creighton Farms fire
Unusual Fire Stations of the World
Fire Company Events Calendar
Duty Crew Calendar