pOn Tuesday October 19 2010 at 0433 the Susquehanna Hose Company was alerted for the apartment fire at 213 South Union Avenue in Havre de Grace Fire Box 503 a Victorian style house built in 1835 and converted into 10 apartments in the mid 20th century. At 0437 Engine 512 arrived with fire showing from the first floor and Assistant Chief Wayne Carroll Chief 5-1 who assumed South Union Avenue Command.nbspnbsp br nbspbr At 0438 Engine 513 arrived at the hydrant at Union Avenue and Fountain Street and began establishing supply for E-512. At that point simultaneously the crew of Engine 512 forced entry of the front apartment side alpha division 1 fire room ventilated the windows on side alpha of the fire room and entered with a charged hoseline. Once inside fire was immediately seen growing in the alphadelta corner the hose crew began extinguishment of the fire which was in the rollover stage and extending into the drop ceiling.br nbspbr During the above time the following also occurred. At 0439 Tower 531 arrived and began placing ground ladders to side alpha and set their aerial ladder up to the roof area. Also at 0440 Deputy Chief Chad Packard arrived and assumed command. Chief 5-1 was appointed operations and crews of E-513 amp T-531 were sent to division 3 to begin search of the 3rd floor apartments. During search an adult female was found in her smoke filled apartment and she was quickly removed from the building. Simultaneously crews began a primary search of the division 2 apartments. Also at that time additional crews conducted a search of the subdivision 1 apartment. br nbspbr At 0442 Quint 535 arrived on scene positioned on the charlie side of the building in the alley of South Lodge Lane and began placing ground ladders on the charlie and delta sides of the structure. At 0444 Chief 1 arrived and was appointed Incident Safety Officer. br nbspbr The crew from Quint 535 was sent to division 1 to begin a secondary search of the fire floor apartment. Soon after the fire was knocked two adult victims werenbsp located. The two occupants were quickly removed to the front lawn where medical treatment was begun on each of them and limited overhaul was conducted with the direction of the Fire Marshall on scene. br nbspbr Units began clearing the scene at 0710 and Tower 531 remained on scene until 0839 providing power and lights for investigators. Deputy Chief 5 Packard held the South Union Avenue Commandbr nbspbr Units on scene Deputy Chief 5 Chief 5-1 Chief 5-2 Chief 1 Engine 511 Acting Engine 514 Engine 512 Engine 513 Engine 515 Engine 211 Engine 113 Tower 531 Quint 535 Rescue 551 Utility 572 Utility 574 Paramedic 591 Paramedic 1 Paramedic 292 and Ambulance 291br nbspbr The Susquehanna Hose Company would like to thank the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps Aberdeen Fire Department Level Volunteer Fire Company Havre de Grace Police Department and the Maryland State Fire Marshallrsquos Office for all of their support during this tragic incident.nbsp Also the Susquehanna Hose Company asks that everyone keep the families of those involved and who lost their lives in your thoughts and prayers.p
