By Olivia Drake, HVFCo. Public Information Officer.
Haddam Volunteer Fire Company responded to 51 calls for emergency services in June 2019 including a deck collapse, fuel spills, pole fires, and a fatal motorcycle accident.
Of those:
Fire/alarms: 6
Motor vehicle accidents: 6
Medical: 28
Downed power lines: 4
Other: 7
Total: 51
On June 15, 2019, HVFC personnel responded to a motorcycle accident on Saybrook Road near the Thankful Arnold House. The operator lost control of his motorcycle, drove off the road near Field Park Drive and struck a utility pole, which ejected him from the vehicle. He then struck a mailbox and another utility pole. Upon arrival, firefighters and EMS personnel attempted to resuscitate the operator, but he was later pronounced dead on the scene. Firefighters blocked traffic during the incident and while police reconstructed the accident.
On June 17, 2019 three patients were transported to area hospitals following a deck collapse on a home located on Little Meadow Road in Haddam.
At 8:10 p.m., HVFC was dispatched to the scene for a reported entrapment under a deck. Upon arrival, firefighters encountered three patients near a collapsed deck, all alert. Another woman and her toddler son also had fallen from the deck but were not injured.
The deck was located on the front of a 3-story gable-roofed home. A wooden support beam had collapsed and the deck broke free from the home’s third story.
Firefighters and EMS personnel quickly evaluated all three patients with injuries. One male patient and one female patient were transported to Hartford Hospital with injuries. Another male patient was transported to Middlesex Hospital, also with injuries.
On June 7, 2019, crews were dispatched to Sunoco Gas Station in Tylerville for a fuel spill where approximately 15 gallons of gasoline was running into a storm drain. HVFC placed absorbent material on the parking lot and absorbent mats near three affected storm drains. The scene was turned over to DEEP for clean up.
No one was injured following a motor vehicle accident on June 13, 2019 involving a 9 Town Transit bus and car. At 12:37 p.m., Haddam Volunteer Fire Co. was dispatched to Killingworth Road near the Mobile Higganum Service Station. The transit bus struck the vehicle in front of it causing significant damage to both the car and bus. The operator of the car, the driver of the bus, one bus passenger and a child were evaluated on scene by EMS personnel and refused additional medical treatment.
HVFC responded to two utility pole incidents on June 15. The first occurred on Saybrook Road, where a tree had fallen, taking down primary wires. HVFC assisted Connecticut State Police in rerouting traffic while Eversource secured the power. The second occurred on Killingworth Road where a tree branch had fallen across the primary wires, causing one wire to snap near the side of the road. HVFC closed a short section of road helped reroute traffic during the incident.
On June 24, 2019 HVFC responded to another utility pole incident on Foot Hills Road. A tree had fallen onto utility wires and was burning. Damaged wires energized the metal in neighboring guard rails, causing more multiple wooden rails to ignite and smoke. Once Eversource secured the power, firefighters used a hose line off Engine 3-13 to extinguish the fires.
On June 21, 2019 HVFC was dispatched to Hungerford Road in East Haddam as part of a mutual aid Tanker Task Force. A propane truck had collided with a car, causing the truck to overturn and leak fuel. Both vehicle operators were taken to the hospital. Only one home in the area was evacuated. Members used Tanker 2-13 to block and reroute traffic during the six-hour incident.
On June 29, 2019 HVFC and Durham Volunteer Fire Co. were dispatched to Millers Pond State Park for a reported traumatic injury to an 18-year-old female who jumped from the rocks into the pond and hit her head. Upon arrival, the patient was out of the water, conscious and alert. The patient was loaded into Durham’s all-terrain vehicle near the beach area and was evaluated on scene. She was later transported to Middlesex Hospital via Haddam Volunteer Ambulance Service.
DRILLS and TRAINING
On June 6, four members of Haddam Volunteer Fire Company completed a 10-hour Hurst Qualification Class that focused on the proper use of Haddam’s hydraulic Hurst tools including a spreader, cutter, ram, and combination tool. The class also covered stabilizing vehicles, technical rescue, vehicle structure and anatomy, and patient care.
On June 17, members of Haddam Volunteer Fire Company and East Haddam Fire Department gathered at Haddam Meadows State Park to participate in a marine drill. They focused on how to respond to a water search and recovery mission near the park’s sandbar where two 18-year-old men drowned in the area in 2017 and 2011.
Members of Haddam Volunteer Fire Company’s Junior Division participated in a drill June 27 at the company’s training building. The Juniors practiced using SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) and hose line advancement techniques.
Members also learned how to properly use radios, checked apparatus, and participated in a live burn in New Haven.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
On June 9, members of Haddam Volunteer Fire Company and Haddam Volunteer Ambulance attended the Kids Run-a-Muck at Haddam Meadows State Park. Firefighters used water from Tanker 2-13 to create a slip n’ slide, which was used as part of the course. EMS personnel also were on standby in the event of any medical emergencies.
MEMBERSHIP
Members of the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company Auxiliary are pleased to announce that Junior Division member Sierra Statkiewicz received the Auxiliary’s $500 scholarship. Sierra graduated from Haddam-Killingworth High School in June and will attend the Simmons School of Nursing in Massachusetts this fall.
