On Monday April 6 crews from Mt. Penn logged several calls to assist many of our mutual aid departments.
It began in mid-afternoon with a call for L1 to assist the city on N 12th St. for a reported structure fire. Mt. Penn was recalled within a few minutes as the city was able to free up additional apparatus to cover the response.
The engine was dispatched shortly after to assist Company 8 (Alsace Manor) with a field fire at Antietam & Gauby Rd in Alsace Twp. Crews had approximately 2-3 acres of a large cornfield on fire. Mt. Penn crews assisted with extinguishment and overhaul returning after approximately 2 hours.
The next call was dispatched at approximately 6:30pm to assist Company 7 (Birdsboro/Union) with manpower for a structure fire with explosion in the 100 block of Shed Rd in Union Twp. Crews had a structure fire with brush fire at this location which caused major damage. Shortly after, L1 was sent to Monarch Fire Co (Company 6) to standby for the southeast Berks area which was depleted of apparatus due to the above structure fire as well as a working structure/brush fire in Robeson Twp.
The final call was for L1 to assist on a possible structure fire at the Sonic in Exeter Twp. at approximately 7:20pm. Crews had light smoke upon arrival and traced the problem to a badly worn belt on an HVAC unit. Power was secured and the smoke vented.
There are sometimes days such as today that tax the manpower and apparatus resources of a large section of the county. Because of mutual aid agreements and cooperation among the departments from multiple counties, all emergency calls were handled in a timely manner and everybody went home safe!
