As the winter of 2009/10 really showed its fury the dedicated volunteers from Neffsville Community Fire Company stepped up their service to protect the community. The Chiefs of the Department determined that with the amount of snow being predicted starting on Friday February 5^th it would be best to put crews in station to cover calls. Starting at 1900 that night a crew of 10 members “bunked in” at the station to provide service. It was also decided that we would put in service our Quick Response Service (QRS). This is a unit that responds on medical emergencies to assist the ambulance crews. Typically it is used for additional help in patient care, however during the storms it was also used for patient access. The QRS responded with a minimum of 2 EMT’s and one other firefighter to help carry equipment or shovel paths to houses. Squad 2-7 runs as our QRS and it is also equipped with a large “V” snowplow to help clear roads and driveways.

Crews remained in station through Super Bowl Sunday and finally cleared to return home at 2200 on Sunday February 7^th.

 

With the Blizzard of 2010 on the heels of the first storm it was again decided to put crews in station starting Tuesday night. Although this proved more challenging since it was a weekday storm, most members were not working on Wednesday because of the magnitude of the Blizzard. We again staffed the station with 10 people. We also put QRS 2-7 back in service to assist the Medics from Manheim Township Ambulance Association. Crews stayed at the station until 2200 on Thursday night.

During these storms the ambulance that is usually housed at Lancaster Airport was put in station 2-7 to allow the crews to keep their ambulance clear of snow and allow them the use of Squad 2-7 as a plow to get to calls.

We answered a total of 23 calls during these storms 12 fire and 11 EMS. Thanks to all the dedicated volunteers who gave up time with their families during extreme weather condition to provide extra protection for the citizens of Neffsville.