Bethel Park, PA (August 25, 2023)
Structure Fire
At approximately 2:25 PM today, the Bethel Park Police Dispatch Center dispatched the Bethel Park Volunteer Fire Company (BPVFC) to a possible kitchen fire on Willow Glen in Bethel Park. Our volunteer fire fighters began responding to our 3 fire stations from all areas of Bethel Park.
Chief Officers began arriving on scene at 2:31. 110 Deputy arrived first and confirmed a working fire and requested our full first alarm which added Mt. Lebanon Fire Department and Upper St. Clair Volunteer Fire Department to the assignment. 110 Chief arrived on scene shortly after 110 Deputy and assumed command. Initially 110 Rescue responded from Station 1 on Brightwood Road and 110 Squad 3 responded from Station 3 on Clifton Road. 110 Rescue arrived on scene at approximately 2:35 and a hoseline was pulled to begin the fire attack. As more volunteers arrived at the stations, more apparatus began to respond from Station 1 and Station 2. A second alarm was called for additional manpower during the fire attack. This requested Library Volunteer Fire Company, Broughton Volunteer Fire Department, and Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department to respond to the scene. The fire was brought under control by 3:00 and crews spent the next three hours checking for hot spots and cleaning up.
No civilian injuries were reported and one volunteer firefighter was transported from the scene to a nearby hospital for further evaluation. While using the nearby fire hydrant to fight the fire, a water main break on a nearby street occurred and the water company was called to address it. The water main break did not have any impact on firefighting operations. The Allegheny County Fire Marshall is investigating the cause of the fire which does not appear to be suspicious.
This is a reminder that our community, along with most others in this area, relies solely on volunteers for fire protection. They have to respond to the stations to get equipment to respond to an emergency. It may seem like we had plenty of companies and vehicles responding, but many only had a small number of firefighters in them. We were extremely fortunate to have a few volunteers working from home, and others working nearby that were able to leave work to respond. Two volunteers were off of work today and happened to be at the station in our gym when the call came in. This allowed for a timely response and larger than normal volunteer crew on the first apparatus. We thank all of our mutual aid departments for responding and providing the much needed manpower and assistance. Special thanks also goes out to Bethel Park Police and Tri Community South EMS who are always there when we need them. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter, please reach out. We could always use the help.
