Liberty Hose Co. No. 2 - Incident Detail #225

While most of the active members of the company were at the social club, viewing a video of the fire at the Waters' home in Wiconisco that occurred a few days earlier, the lights flickered and went off three times. Suspecting that something had struck a power pole, members left the building and crossed the street to the station. At the same time, County Dispatch was activating the tones and sirens for Companies 22 and 23 for an accident with injuries and fire on the Glen Road at the little league field. Engine 22 responded, followed by Squad 23. Crews arrived on scene and found a vehicle that had left the roadway and struck and knocked down a PP&L pole directly in front of the entrance to the ballfield. The vehicle was on fire and victims were lying on the ground all around the scene. Firefighters Pell and Shultz, who were in the jump seats of Engine 22, were also EMT's and immediately began triage of patients while EMS units and paramedics arrived. The fire was extinguished quickly, and parts of the pole had to be moved off the vehicle to gain access to its interior to check for victims. All patients were removed from the scene and transported to the hospital, with one fatality. Crews remained on the scene assisting police until they were released.