News

Tanker Company Assist Cecilton MD-Multiple Chicken Houses on Fire - ISE, 605 Sassafras Rd., Warwick, MD
Monday, April 4, 2011

On Monday, April 4, 2011, Station 44 was alerted for a Tanker Company assist to Cecilton, MD (Cecil County MD Station 1) at 20:19 for a well involved 4-alarm chicken house fire. With crews already in the station following the monthly company meeting, Engine 44-3 was on the street quickly with a full crew and Tanker 44 was close behind. Crews assisted in both water supply and fire suppresion efforts. All 44 units were back in quarters by 00:30 on 4/5. The following story is from Cecilton's website: Monday, April 4, 2011 At about 1930 hours Station 1 was alerted for a building fire at ISE America on Sassafras Road. The initial alert brought Station 1, KC Tanker 3 and the ladder and engine from NCC Sta 27 Middletown. Chief 1, Robert Plato Jr, went enroute and advised of heavy black smoke being seen from the town of Cecilton. Chief 1 arrived with a 50' by 500' chicken shack involved with exposure to several additional buildings. Due to the high winds the fire moved rapidly through the building and spread to several additional buildings. Water supply was setup on the Alpha side of the incident with two different dump sites. One site fed the Bravo side which utilized QA Quint 6 and Tower 3 and the other site feed the Delta side which fed numerous handlines and NCC Tower 27. Operations continued well through the evening with the last units leaving around 0300 hours. Cecil Units - Sta 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 Kent Units - Sta 2,3,4,6 New Castle - Sta 10,15,24,26,27,29 Kent DE Units - 44 Cecil Hdqts - P3,P4,DS50,two gators, Chief Deckard (Safety Officer) The final loss has not been calculated yet but is estimated to be in the $6 to $8 million range maybe higher. Approximately 250,000 chickens were lost, 4 buildings were affected by the fire.