Just after midnight on March 12th, East Brandywine Fire Company volunteers were dispatched to assist the Thorndale Fire Company on a building fire at the Preserve at Milltown.

Shortly after dispatch Caln Township Police arrived on location and confirmed a working building fire at which time Assistant 38 (Taylor) requested the working fire dispatch. Lieutenant 49 (Groff) arrived on location and reported a heavy fire condition on the second floor with evacuations in progress.

Once on location Assistant 38 established Milltown Command while Chief 49 (Edwards) assumed operations. First arriving crews stretched two 1.75" attack lines and advanced to the second floor where they were initially met by untenable conditions. Interior crews held their position until horizontal and vertical ventilation could occur.

Once the building was ventilated interior personnel quickly knocked down a large volume of fire in the kitchen which had extended into the attic. Simultaneously personnel were also opening up the adjoining apartment on the "C" side of the building to extinguish a small amount of extension.

After the bulk of the fire was extinguished crews then began to turn their attention to salvage on overhaul, while Chester County Fire Marshals investigated the fire to determine origin and cause.

Personnel from all the Companies who responded did an incredible job of containing this fire quickly and preventing major damage to the adjoining apartments.

Thank-you to Irish Eyez Emergency Photographs for many of the photos used in this article. Also thank-you to the Wagontown Fire Company who provided stand-by coverage for our Company during the incident.