With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the members of Station 28 continue to try and increase awareness for this important cause. Breast Cancer holds a special place in several of our members hearts as we have several survivors in our “family”.
During the month of October, our members will be wearing Pink firefighting hoods to show our support. This will be our 2nd year wearing the hoods, hopefully our visual appearance will raise the awareness for those that we encounter.
This year Fire Prevention Week is October 6 – 12 and the theme is Prevent Kitchen Fires. Station 28 will be holding our annual Open House on Saturday October 19th from 11am – 4pm. This event will focus on how to Prevent Kitchen Fires, but we will also have games and gifts for kids, food, and our members will be available to answer any other questions you may have.
Bring the entire family down for some fun and education, and don’t forget to visit our neighbors at the Canal Fest taking place on Market St.
https://www.facebook.com/DelawareRaritanCanalFestival
Join us this Saturday at the Somerset County Fire Academy in Hillsborough, on Roycefield Rd, for a live demonstration of Residential Fire Sprinklers. The Somerset County Fire Marshals Association is presenting this live demonstration in an effort to bring awareness to everyone about the major impact that Residential Fire Sprinklers can have on a home fire. With today’s materials burning hotter and faster, you need early water application to prevent complete devastation from a fire, Residential Fire Sprinklers do just that.
Air 28 was placed in service in June 2013 as a Special Services unit to provide Air, Light, and Rehab services along with being Station 28’s primary RIC vehicle. The photograph below shows the inventory stored in the HDR box area and roof top. Additional items requiring a controlled climate or easy access to the crew cab area are stored inside of the cab and walk-in area of the box. The members of the truck committee spent many hours designing a truck that stores a vast inventory of equipment in an effective way that makes it easy for members to retrieve. Photos of the compartments and inventory list will be posted shortly.
Shortly after 3pm on Saturday 9/14, Ranger 28 was requested to assist Station 36 with multiple brush fires in a difficult to access area of Dukes Farm. Ranger 28 and Ranger 36 were able to access the fires and utilized their on board foam tanks to extinguish them without incident.
12 years ago the most unimaginable terroristic acts occurred on our country. With the cause yet not fully known, hundreds of emergency workers responded to the Twin Towers to begin to mitigate the problem. Why? Because that is what we do. We go where there is a need, without question, without prejudice, without hesitation.
Never Forget is not just another slogan that the fire service created, it’s a mindset. It goes far beyond the fire service. We as Americans, regardless of race, creed, religion, must never forget that those who perished that day were not victims of some accident, they were MURDERED. We must remember them and honor their legacies.
For the emergency service personnel that gave their lives, we will never forget the 343 that died that day. But Never Forget can’t stop at those 343; since the attacks over 1,000 people have developed a WTC cancer. We must not forget that these men and woman gave selfishly of themselves to help those in need, who now have health issues.
Please take today to remember that firefighters give whatever is needed, to whoever is needing, whenever they can. We don’t do it for the glory, we don’t do it for the money, we do it for the community’s we serve.
NEVER FORGET 343 and ALL Emergency Service Personnel
On Sunday September 8th, Millstone Valley continued with its commitment to maintain a skilled RIC team. An early departure traveling to the Morris County Fire Academy for a bit of a change in training venues. Members reviewed advanced search techniques and executed several exercises to locate and remove lost or trapped firefighters.
Crews completed Denver and Pittsburgh evolutions along with an advanced search using the mask confidence course on the training grounds. Thanks to the instructors at Morris for providing a challenging training regimen today.
On Sunday morning, September 8th, Station 28 was requested to standby at Station 27, East Franklin, while they operated at a 2nd alarm structure fire. Squad 28 responded on the assignment and remained at Station 27 while crews operated for about an hour and a half.
On Labor Day, Station 28 assisted South Plainfield Emergency Services during their annual Labor Day Fireworks. Air 28 was requested as in years past and this year Ranger 28 was added to the request.
Ranger 28 was staffed with 2 personnel including an EMT, providing rapid response services to the area surrounding Spring Lake Park. Air 28 staffed with 4 personnel and provided lighting for public safety.
This past week, Station 28 sent several members to 4 days of training at Fire Rescue International. 6 of our junior officers and senior firefighters completed the Company Officer Leadership 1 education track, while both Chiefs completed the Chief Officer Leadership 1 track.
Our dedicated members attended more than 20 hours of training to further their education and continuously improve on the level of service we provide to our community.
As Chief of the Department, I would like to thank these individuals for their dedication.