At 10:40 hours, Station 20 was dispatched along with White Valley (64), Sardis (78), Export (22), Level Green (9) and Harrison City (87) for the Rapid Intervention assignment to 3303 Jude Court in District 1 for a reported house fire. Truck 20 would go enroute with a crew of five and Assistant 20-1 in the officer's seat. Truck 20 arrived on scene with heavy smoke showing from Side A of the two story single family residential structure. Assistant 20-1 established the Jude Court Command. After a 360 degree size up by Sergeant 20-2, it was determined that the best access would be through the front door. The crew from Truck 20 and Engine 78 forced entry and started to make the initial attack on a well involved fire. The crew on the attack line determined that the fire was below them as well as above them and that there was a large hole in the floor in the center of the structure with no access to the basement due to the stairs being compromised. Crews then advance multiple hoselines from Truck 20 and Engine 78 into Side A and C of the structure to try to take control of the rapidly deteriorating conditions. Due to daylight manpower issues and the well seated fire, two additional alarms were struck bringing Monroeville 4 and 5 (170 and 171), Trafford (86), Claridge (63) for salvage and North Irwin (12) for air to the scene. Crews continued with excessive overhaul work on all floors of the structure for well over four hours before bringing everything under control. During the incident, four firefighters were transported to Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville for treatment of exhaustion, smoke inhalation, and minor burns. All have since been treated and released from the hospital. A great job was done by everyone involved in the incident. We appreciated the manpower and professionalism that was provided to us through our mutual aid companies.
As usual, thanks to Murrysville Medic One for providing their rehab/emergency medical services to the firefighters on scene. Also, thanks to Renton (183) for providing coverage to Station 20 for four hours and aiding in clean up after the incident. Chief 183 provided us with a well trained crew and Attack 183 for coverage of the Municipality.
