Chief's Corner

Apalachin Chief’s Corner   April 2011 

By Emma Roden and Michael Roden

    What does your local Fire Department really do?
Here in Apalachin, the fire department responds to fires, crashes, rescues, emergencies, and medical emergencies. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Let’s look a bit closer at what those terms actually mean.
    Fires can occur in single family homes, apartment houses, trailers,  garages, barns, businesses from print shops to restaurants, gas stations,  schools, storage facilities, and places of worship. Cars, trucks, and motorcycles are all susceptible to fire, as are fields and wooded areas, and gas pipelines. We train to fight each and every type of fire.
    Crashes occur on the highway, on our neighborhood streets, and on remote hillsides; between cars, trucks, ATVs, snowmobiles, tractors, motorcycles, planes, horses, hot-air balloons, bicycles-and people. These calls require fire fighters also, as well as EMTs and ambulances.
    That’s a lot to be prepared to handle, but it doesn’t stop there. Our fire department are first responders for hazardous material spills or releases. One release in our area kept our members involved for 3 days round the clock, and the DEC credited our quick and thorough response with preventing the spill from becoming an ecological disaster for the Susquehanna River. Tankers of toxic and dangerous substances roll down Route 17 daily, and when something goes wrong, whether it’s a deadly industrial chemical or a truckload of fruit, the Fire Department is always on the scene.
    We are always available to help the community handle whatever Mother Nature throws at us. During the blizzard of 1993, the stations were staffed through the night, so those needing assistance would not have to wait for responders to struggle through the storm to get to the station. Fire fighters slept on stacks of rolled hose, tried to snooze in the drivers seats of apparatus, even dropped off to sleep on the concrete floor; but they were there when they were needed. On New Years Eve of 1999 members stayed through the midnight hours, though thankfully the dreaded Y2K disasters never materialized. Again in 2006, when flooding left many in our fire district without power for days, the station was open, and volunteers were there to distribute dry ice, clean water, and provide any other help they could.
    Midway through the last century deaths from car crashes skyrocketed. The Emergency Squad was founded with the primary goal of helping those who had been injured in car accidents. Soon the Squad was responding to almost as many heart attacks as car accidents, and over the years, this group has evolved into a top-notch Advanced Life Support Emergency Medical Service. From amputations and abdominal bleeding to Zygomatic bone fractures, these responders train constantly and respond urgently.
    Some of the most harrowing calls are those that begin with instructions from the dispatcher to “Form a crew and standby at your station.” Somewhere in our district a situation is probably going from bad to worse. Could it be someone threatening suicide? A drug overdose? A murder?  Perhaps a family torn apart by violence, with police trying to calm things down? Has a fellow responder, a police officer, been wounded, or has someone been taken hostage?  EMTs have to be trained in how to treat an “emergency scene” as a “crime scene”, and when to call for police back-up. On the happier side, there is always the chance one of our new citizens will start their residence in the fire district as newborns in the back of one of our ambulances!
    Humans aren’t the only ones we save; dogs, cats, bunnies, lizards, and pet birds have been rescued from fires and crashes. Cows and horses have been saved from burning barns, and during one flood, a herd of horses and several goats were saved from a watery grave through the actions of the fire department.
    Sometimes we joke that we wear so many hats we should be called “Ghostbusters” rather than firefighters, since no matter what weird thing happen in people’s neighborhoods, we are the ones they’re gonna call. If that sounds interesting to you, perhaps you should check us out online, at www.apalachinfd.com, or pick up an application at Station 1 at 230 Pennsylvania Ave.

May 2011

May 1, 2011
AFD has been busy with EMS calls and the recent flash flooding in Apalachin.  We have had multiple calls during these times supporting and serving our community.  We are starting to begin preparations for field days 2011.  Please join us Jun ...Read More