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Pond Hill-Lily Lake completed our annual yearly refresher training to kick off the 2016 training year! This training is focused on providing all of our members a core skills refreshment along with preparing them for the new set of training to come. Our officers also use this as an opportunity to pick out weaknesses and focus on those problematic skills more with upcoming training. This training session includes a brief SCBA drill that started with the proper donning of gear and SCBA units. Members are spilt into pairs and required to fully don their TOG (Turn Out Gear) and SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) and then give each other a “buddy check” to confirm everything is properly in place. This is how we encourage our members to don gear during an active incident, as even the most seasoned fire fighter can make a simple mistake at 3am after days/weeks of down time. Once this session has been completed, members practice basic RIT and self-rescue techniques that vary each year. This year, members practiced swapping out a downed fire fighter’s SCBA pack without removing his/her mask to complete the change. While Pond Hill-Lily Lake is not a RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) department, we do train for providing injured/downed fire fighters air during situations that can happen to our members and our neighboring departments before a RIT department arrives. Once members have reviewed their SCBA skills, our training turns towards pumping. Members went to Lily Lake and connected our Tanker to the dry hydrant to begin flowing water. In order to challenge members, our Engine was relayed with the Tanker and members were given both a static (suctioning from a dry hydrant) and pressurized (getting water pumped from our tanker) water source to train with. Training consisted of multiple water supply changes and issues that required the pump operator to adapt to the situation. Along with basic multiple attack line pumping tactics and equipment use, such as the deck gun and Blitz Fire. With our department being primarily focused on Engine Operations (getting water on and to the fire), this session of our refresher is the main focus and most time consuming. With our official training days starting January 24th, with our SCBA Awareness Training followed by January 31th with our SCBA Challenge Course, we hope to once again improve our departments ability to serve the surrounding communities. This year also marks a special year for our new training program, as we will be purchasing multiple training based manikins to greatly expand our abilities. Keep checking back for details of these training days and how your department can join in. We would like to thank everyone who allow our training to be a success, and also thank the members for their near 100% participation within our training. Our membership levels may be low, but we will always pride ourselves with completing the tasks of many with only a few.

Pond Hill-Lily Lake Fire Company and all of our members would like to thank the Mocanaqua Memorial Post 6434 VFW Home Association for their generous donation to our department. While we are always disheartened to see a local company of any kind close their doors for good, we are thankful that Post 6434 kept the community in mind and used their remaining funds to make donations to multiple community organizations, including ourselves. The donation of $2,500 was presented by John Matusek and Robert Yazemboski at our last monthly meeting on 05/18/15. These funds will go to firefighting equipment and daily upkeep costs of our station; allowing us to better serve and protect our community.

On March 8th members from Pond Hill-Lily Lake Fire Company tested their skills and refreshed their memories about brush fires. This drill included testing and preparing our Heavy Brush's pumps, chainsaws, generators, and other equipment for the upcoming brush fire season. Members were able to use all of the equipment and had time for pumping with our Heavy Brush. We also went over the wild land based equipment on our Engine and Tanker to ensure everything was in working order. Once members had hands on time with all of our equipment, we went to Lily Lake and did a larger scale pumping exercise that involved both our Engine and Brush units. Pond Hill-Lily Lake's Heavy Brush unit is a Ex-Military 2.5 Ton beast that carries 1,000 gallons of water, 1,500 feet of hose, two pumps, one generator, chainsaws, leaf blowers, 7 Indian water tanks, and multiple of hand tools.

On February 22nd crews from Pond Hill-Lily Lake did an in station training session for Motor Vehicle Accidents (MVAs). The drill took place to refresh crews and patient packaging and extrication techniques used during MVAs. Crews went over the equipment needed to safely and effectively remove a person entrapped or confined in a vehicle after an accident has occurred. Crews also went over transporting a patent up embankments and over rough terrain. Crews were able to secure a person into a basket stretcher and successfully upright the person without them moving or compromising cervical spine security. This practice is used to practice transporting patients over rough terrain or even when lifting or lowering a patient vertically during rope rescue. While not a EMS unit ourselves, we try to achieve the highest standards with patient care when supporting our local EMS units on secure. All of our MVA related training has at least one EMT-B or Paramedic present to enforce proper packaging standards and usage of equipment. In fact, many of our members are cross trained within the EMS field to enhance our abilities on scene.

Pond Hill-Lily Lake Fire Company held our annual Turn Out Gear (TOG) and Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) training this weekend. Our newest Turn Out Gear, which is the clothing we wear during a fire, was presented to all members and the details of it's protective levels, cleaning, and setup where evaluated. While most fire fighters view TOG skills and education as basic skills, the need to review them is always present as even a small mistake can be life-threatening. Preventative maintenance and cleaning for TOG is becoming more and more essential as our average set of gear is priced at $3,000 per member. After we completed our TOG section of training, we went over the basic design and function of our SCBA packs and refreshed our members on their use. Member's masks were covered and an obstacle course was setup within our station. Members had to search the building and clear each room eventually finding and extracting a patient from the building. Nearly blind and pushed to fit in places their gear could barely fit, all of our members managed to find the patient and no group got separated or lost in the building. Good work! The last phase of our SCBA training was a simulated low air situation. Members where placed in a situation where their air supply was about to run out and self extrication from the building was impossible. Members practiced breathing techniques to conserve air and experienced running out of air completely. Next month our training will be focused on Rapid Intervention Teams and Self Rescue while using SCBA packs. We would like to thank all members who attended this months training.

We would like to thank Salem Township Volunteer Fire Company for their generous donation of a thermal imaging camera. This device can be used to search for heat sources and hot spots involved with structure and wildland fires. These can also be used to help during search and rescue situations to find heat sources generated from a lost person. These devices generally run for thousands of dollars and can easily top $10,000 new once all the needed mounting and accessories are added on. While the device was donated awhile ago, we have finally achieved the personal training and secondary equipment to place it on our Engine 1.

Members of Pond Hill-Lily Lake successfully completed their in house training for their electronic devices. These devices included: Thermal Imaging Cameras Thermal Detection Guns Gas Meters Voltage Detection Decives PASS Alarms' Members where able to not only detect heat sources in a building, but where also able to see in the dark using our thermal imaging camera. This device can be used for a huge range of situations including structure fires, smoke alarms, search and rescue, vehicle problems, and much more. We were also able to test out our thermal detection gun and successfully found multiple heat sources in a building.

Pond Hill-Lily Lake Fire Company will be hosting an Electronics Devices in-house training day at our station. We will be refreshing on the high tech side of the fire service and will involve hands on use of the equipment along with education of there use. All members of our company are urged to attend and members of outside companies are welcome to come as well, in fact feel free to bring some equipment to use from your own department. Residents can also stop by if they would like to see what we have available to use when it comes to tech equipment. Training starts at 2pm on November 16th, so feel free to stop by.

Our raffle calendars will be back for 2015 and are currently being printed now! The calendars will return at the normal cost of $25 per calendar and offer a chance to win up to $10,000. Sales of our 2015 calendars will begin shortly and residents looking to support our company are welcomed to sale as well. If you would like more information on how to buy, sale, or just general info then contact us at [email protected] or call (570) 379-2204. We would like to thank our sponsors and buyers for hopefully making our calendar return a huge success!

Our yearly donation drive has been sent out and should have arrived in your mail box a few days ago. The funds from this drive go towards the running costs of our origination and will ensures that when you call 911 someone will show up. Even the smallest donation can help keep your local fire company around and perhaps save not only your neighbors life, but your own as well. Thank you for your continued support. If you did not get a letter please contact a fire fighter, call the station at (570) 379-2204, or email us at [email protected]

Around 11:00AM on August 10th, Pond Hill-Lily Lake Fire Company was dispatched for our Brush Tanker (our Heavy Brush Truck) to assist Mocanaqua's Fire Company with a large brush fire. Once en route, crews realized that the fire was larger than a average brush fire as more and more units were being dispatched for response. The fire itself was not only growing at a fast pace, it was also located down a nearly inaccessible access road. Below is a list of units that we know were at the fire: 118 Mocanaqua Volunteer Fire Company 218 Pond Hill-Lily Lake Volunteer Fire Company 137 Hanover Township Fire Department 144 Hunlock Creek Volunteer Fire Company 158 Nanticoke Fire Department 163 Newport Township Fire Department 173 Sweet Valley 174 Salem Township Volunteer Fire Company 575 Shickshinny Area Volunteer Ambulance Berwick Medic 95 Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Our brush truck was primary assigned to provide water to other units due to our 1,000 gallon water tank, but was also used to provide fire line control at the same time. The fire was located on the edge of a drop off and was working it's way both down the ledge and across. Crews battled with the fire for over 7 hours with the harsh terrain providing little aid. While there were multiple minor injuries and heat issues with fire fighters, but EMS on scene was able to keep everyone taken care of and the Red Cross showed up with food and water. Our brush truck providing fire line control at the start of the incident. Providing water for 118 brush fire crews. Filling Salem's brush truck. Brush trucks from all over the area volunteered their time to provide manpower, equipment, water, and additional resources to try and contain the fire. PA's DCNR crews arrived to aid volunteer crews in a dry, dusty environment. Hills, cliffs, and rocky ledges allowed the fire to spread out of many responders reach. Even areas that were accessible on foot were full of challenges. There seemed to be an endless flow of water onto the fire, but the fire was still a challenge at every step. After the fire crews were able to enjoy the great sights from the areas that whey prevented the fire from burning.

or our June training session, Pond Hill-Lily Lake ran a Dump Site drill that included setting up a single pond and dual pond dump site, supplying water between multiple ponds, and doing a dry run with a tanker. What is a "Dump Site"? During a large fire a lot of water is needed to either extinguish the fire or to simply control it. This water is normally obtained via fire hydrants, directly out of local pools/ponds, or water tankers. However during large brush fires other sources may be used, such as planes and relays. The dump site is used mostly during rural fires where hydrants are not available or hydrants are not big enough for the fire. It is generally one or two fire engines set up with one or more portable ponds and is the receiving point for water tankers or even a water relay system. The dump site is directly responsible for supplying the fire apparatus (fire trucks) at the fire with the water when needed. Our drill was focused on the setup of a dump site for both a single pond and dual pond setup. Most residential structure fires and brush fires only use one pond, but larger buildings and commercial fires can need two or more. The one pond setup is fairly simple and was done simply to setup and run, but the dual pump starts to get more complex with more operations being run at once. Once the ponds where setup crews where explained and shown different ways of setting up the ponds and the reasoning behind it After that a dry run was done by a tanker to show newer members the full cycle of a dump site. We thank everyone who turned out for the drill as it was a great success and we hope our members walked away with more skills to use in the case of an emergency.

People drive nearly everyday of their lives and sadly it has become one of the most dangerous activities for a person to do. First responders are continuously improving their skills, techniques, and equipment to save lives during motor vehicle accidents, but no one has truly found a way to improve the situation when the victim is unresponsive or confused, until now. When a responder can not place a name, medical history, or allergy list to the victim then all of a sudden common medical problems can be overlooked and life saving medicines can kill. Recently PA rolled out it's "Yellow Dot" program. This program is designed to give responders and emergency room staff the information they need when someone's world gets turned upside down. The program is based not only around providing responders with patient information, but standardizing the delivery of the information with the markings to show that it is there to begin with. We highly recommend this to all of our residents and are already training our members to recognize the markings and what to do if they see the "Yellow Dot". This program is even more life changing for people who have medical conditions that may affect their mental status, such as diabetes, dementia, brain injuries, etc. The program itself is free and the steps to sign up can be found on our website here: Click to visit our Yellow Dot Info Page

Pond Hill-Lily Lake Fire Company will be the location for an Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Fundraising Craft Fair/Vendor Show on June 7th. There will be food, crafts, Chinese auctions, and much more including a bake sale! The event is open to the public and will run rain or shine. So come on out and support a great cause and have a good time as well!

Pond Hill-Lily Lake Fire Department has restarted their monthly drill program! These drills will be aimed at improving our members’ ability to operate our apparatus, tools, and to greatly improve our teamwork on the fire scene. The goal is to have a drill on the last Saturday of every month at 2pm, but it may be adjusted to fit events and holidays in, check our events list for the next drill! The drills themselves will be based on both weather and member turnout. If it is bad weather or simply a low turnout day, then gear checks and simple drills may be done vs a high turnout day that includes pumping and water movement drills. Multiple department based drills will also be factored in to increase our ability to work with neighboring companies. Everyone is welcome to ours drills, even members form neighboring companies.

If you look at the members of Pond Hill-Lily Lake Fire Company you may see a group of individuals that are just trying to get by, however, this is far from the truth. An aging fire station, a list of needed supplies that can’t even fit on a single piece of paper, and one of the smallest groups of members in the area; the challenges for PHLL’s firefighters seem endless. However, when you ask one of them how life at the station is going you get a different attitude, a mindset that you do not see much of anymore. You get a response that makes you feel like their station is brand new and their numbers are endless. No member seems to complain about the old equipment, but instead they look forward to the new gear their next grant will get them. Their members are happy to work for what they have and seem willing to work past all the issues. Why is this? This is caused by a sense of brotherhood in the firefighter life. Most of these members could easily blame the economy or funding, but instead they mention how dropping out would hurt the members who stay around. Their trucks are all ready to go aid someone in their time of need and their spirits are high. And even with most of them working over 40 hour weeks to support their families, they will still be there when some of the worst situations imaginable happen. Hopes remain high as members of PHLL explain how the past two state level grants have been used to nearly triple their ability to fight a fire and how future grants are already preplanned to modernize all of their fire trucks. With the additional gaming grant funding out there, the members are very hopeful they can work with their township to replace the aging station. Membership is always a necessity and this group of a few remaining fire fighters is always willing to accept new members into the firefighter life. In 1977, there were 300,000 volunteer firefighters in PA. Today, the number is closer to 50,000. The day may come when someone dials 911 and no one shows up, but Pond Hill’s firefighters are aiming to prevent that situation for their community.

The dry hydrant at Lily Lake (the one in the parking lot, not the one on the road) is currently unusable during a fire scene! The parts are in to repair it, but it must be done in warmer weather and therefore is on hold. The hydrant currently leaks air into the system and causes suction loss. It can be used to fill a truck directly off of it (slowly), but can not support multiple truck operations. It is advised to use the secondary hydrant in the area or simply use the lake itself until repairs can be made. Please be aware! If you do use the boat launch itself to get water, be aware not to trap any bystanders on the lake.

Pond Hill-Lily Lake Fire Department has been approved for $12,161.20 from the PA state grant! This money will be going towards new hose nozzles and a few miscellaneous equipment expenses. Some of the money is also being set aside for truck payments so our department can stay ahead of the finical game.

Pond Hill-Lily Lake Volunteer Fire Department will be having a brush fire based in-house drill on Saturday March 29th. This drill will be geared towards preparing our members for the upcoming brush fire season. This is also a good time to note that residents should watch what they are burning and always have a water source ready to put out any fire that begins to spread away from the source. Please do not burn anything outside during a very dry, windy day. This drill is aimed towards improving, or in some cases simply reminding, our members ability to fight brush fires. Brush fires need skills and training in not only pump operations, but other equipment skills such as chain saws, portable water tanks, and even generators for night time operations. Fire line tactics and off-road water movement tactics will also be touched on. This will also be our department's first official drill since starting our training program back up!!! If bad weather or other unforeseen event were to take place to prevent us from doing an outside based drill, we will be substituting an air pack drill in it's place.