Top photo courtesy Timothy S. Delehanty
At about 9:30 a.m. on Monday, April 24, Engine Company 1 was dispatched third due to a reported apartment fire at a building under construction at 4700 Berwyn House Road in College Park.
Chief 12, Bill Corrigan, arrived quickly and reported fire showing from the 5th floor, requesting a second alarm soon thereafter.
Engine 1’s crew arrived laying dual lines, eventually supplying numerous lines including several aerial devices, operating on the top floor until crews were backed out as the fire spread and master stream operations began.
Various companies were transferred to Station 1 during the incident, including several from Montgomery County and Washington, D.C. who eventually made their way to the fireground as additional alarms were requested.
HVFD volunteers, who normally are “off” during weekday business hours when we’re typically staffed by our county day crew headed to the station as the incident escalated and placed an additional crew in service staffing the truck company. Later in the evening, HVFD volunteers relieved the day crew and spent 12+ hours on the fireground pumping multiple aerial companies and supporting operations. That crew was then relieved again by our county day crew Tuesday morning, who operated until mid afternoon.
After more than 30 hours on the scene, Engine 1 returned to quarters. Volunteer and career staff worked diligently to clean all equipment, take inventory, re-rack house and return the unit to service.
More than 200 firefighters from across the region battled the blaze — including Prince George’s, Montgomery, Washington, D.C. and Anne Arundel counties. Many more jurisdictions provided transfers and back-fill to those stations. Units rotated for two days following the initial fire supporting complete containment and hotspot extinguishment.
The fire caused some $40 million dollar in damage. For more details on the incident visit the PGFD PIO Blog here.
Dispatch / Initial Incident Audio
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