At 1633 hours (4:33 pm), on Saturday April 25th, 2015, Station 4 (Malvern) along with mutual aid from Stations 3(Paoli), 5, and 54/56 (Goshen) along with a medic from Station 2 (Berwyn) were dispatched to a reported house fire in the unit block of Line Road, Willistown Township.

Engine 5-2 responded immediately along with Chief 4 (N. Vaughn) and Ambulance 56-1. Chester County Fireboard advised that there were multiple 9-1-1 calls reporting a fire at the property. Willistown Police Department and Ambulance 56-1 arrived and confirmed a working fire structure at the location. With this information, Chief 4 requested the Working Fire Dispatch (WFD) to bring additional resources to the scene, including Station 47 (Lionville) for a Rapid Intervention Team (RIT), and Station 52 for Air 52 (West Chester - Good Will), and Medic 91 (Chester County Hospital).

Engine 5-2 arrived on scene as first-in engine simultaneously as Chief 4. Chief 4 established "Line Road Command" while Engine 5-2 took the driveway along with Ladder 56. Firefighters pulled attack hose lines to start fighting the blaze, and encountered heavy fire conditions on the first and second floors, with extension into the attic. Crews made an aggressive interior attack and were able to hold the fire to those areas. Additional arriving crews started a search for any occupants that might have been inside, and conducted ventilation operations.

The fire was placed under control 45 minutes after arrival, but remained on scene for several hours after conducting salvage and overhaul operations.

The fire is being investigated by the Chester County Fire Marshal’s Office and is still under investigation. One East Whiteland firefighter was transported from the scene to a local hospital for minor burns during the incident but was later treated and released.

Command Structure:
Line Road Command – Chief 4 (N. Vaughn)
Interior Operations – Deputy 4 (C. Gastwirth)
Exterior Operations – Deputy 56 (C. O’Neill)
Manpower/Accountability – Deputy 5 (C. Strauss)
RIT - Chief 47 (M. Chapman)
Safety – FF G. Sheridan from East Whiteland
EMS – 4-20 (K. Johnson)

Photo Courtesy Brian Collins.