Think you are good on the grill?  How about your organization, church group, good friends or even a father-son combo?

The Heroes for Warriors BBQ Event being planned by the Quakertown Fire Company and PBA 188 is only a month away and we are looking for a few more BBQ teams to compete in the BBQ competition on June 16th!

Whether its the best ribs, chicken or beef or maybe you want to try for the People's Choice Award and its cash prize?  The competition is all about a good time on Father's Day weekend and helping the Wounded Warrior Project make life better for our returning military personnel!

The actually BBQ fundraiser will run from 1pm to 9pm with ribs, chicken, burgers, dogs, clams and fresh cut fries as well as live entertainment and several beers on tap.  There is NO admission to the event or BBQ compeition.  Location is Quakertown Fire Station, 67 Quakertown Rd, Pittstown.

Contact QFC for a BBQ packet with all the rules! Feedback@quakertownfire.com

As the temps rise, usually does the weekend call volume at Quakertown Fire.  This weekend followed that trend as our volunteers answered six calls for service.  On Friday night, BLS 91-51 handled a personal injury on Croton.

On Saturday, the day started early at 6:44 with a fire alarm activation at a signle family residence on Pine Hill Road in Franklin Twp.  Squad 91, Tender 91-2, Rescue 91 and BLS 91-51 responded and found a tripped detector and no fire.  Around lunch, units were sent to Hamden River Road for trees and wires burining.  Squad 91 and Engine 45-1 responded and cleared after no fire was found. Later in the afternoon, Rescue 91 was dispatched to a gas leak in Raritan Twp but was recalled while enroute.

On Mom's Day, Quakertown Fire units as well as Pattenburg was disapatched to a residence on Rt 579 in Union Twp. for a tree that brought down wires starting a brush fire. Squad 91 and Chief 91 arrived and confirmed a woods fire and requested additional units from the station.  Additional units responding were Car 91-4, Brush 91, Engine 91, Tender 91-2, Squad 91 and Reserve Engine 91.  Crews worked to keep the fire in check until JCP&L could cut the power.  Once this was confirmed. crews quickly extinguished and turned the scene over to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.  Later in the day, QFC was sent to Rt 625 in Alexandria Twp for a MVA with air bag deployment.  Deputy 91, Rescue 91 and Squad 91 all responded with the Deputy arriving first and confirming NO injuries from a car/deer acident.  Rescue 91 continued in to depower and control hazards.

Over the weekend, Quakertown Firefighters welcomed two instructors to town whom would be covering Engine Company Operations.  In addition to the 16-hour class, QFC volunteers responded to two fires and a significant tramua that required a Medevac.

Engine Company class taught by Lt Jason Blake of Montgomery County, MD Fire-Rescue and Lt Ray McCormack of FDNY covered topics like the Top Engine Company errors and testing our hose lines and nozzles to ensure we are getting the right amount of water.  On Sunday, class consisted of 4 live fire "scenarios" where crews advanced handline to multi-floor fires.

During lunch break from class on Saturday, Box 14-01 was dispatched for the reported furnace fire in a business on West Main Street in High Bridge.  Rescue 91 with 6 men responded as the Rapid intervention Crew and stood-by until the fire was extinguished.

Saturday afternoon, QFC ambulance was dispatched to a farm on West Sidney Rd in Franklin Twp for a "victim rolled by a horse".  Once onscene, the ambulance crew determined the patient needed a tramua center and requested a helicopter.  Engine 91 responded for the landing zone.

Late Saturday night, Box 21-01 was dispatched for the possible chimney fire on Laurelton Trail in Raritan Twp, near the Franklin Twp border.  Engine 91 and Tender 91-1 were requested and responded with 6 volunteers within 3 minutes.  Upon arrival, there was fire evident from the wooden chimney and additional resources were requested.  Squad 91, Rescue 91, Tender 91-2 and Car 91-4 responded with an additional 11 volunteers. The fire was contained to the chimney with no extension.

This weekend, April 27th & 28th, Quakertown Firefighters will be hosting an Engine Company Operations class led by Lieutenants Jay Blake and Ray McCormack.  The class will concentrate on the basics of Engine Company work (putting water on the fire).  Classroom and practical sessions are planned at QFC and at the Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center.

Lieutenant Jay Blake is a veteran of the fire service for the past 23 years.  He works for the Montgomery County (MD) Fire & Rescue Service as the In-Service Training Coordinator at the MCFRS Training Academy.  He has been an H.O.T. Instructor and Speaker at FDIC, Firehouse Expo, and other fire service seminars.

Lieutenant Ray McCormack is a 30-year veteran of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). He delivered the keynote address at FDIC 2009. He is the lead instructor for Urban Essential H.O.T. and is the author of “Tactical Safety,” a weekly safety column.

 QFC would like to thank the Hampton Inn of Clinton for their help with lodging, Franklin Twp Fire District No 1, and Frank Ur (Hunterdon County Training Center Coordinator) and the Hunterdon County Emergency Services Training Center.

Want to be crowned the King or Queen of BBQ? Join the Quakertown Fire Company and PBA 188 as we host “The Bravest/Finest BBQ Challenge” on the weekend of June 16th and find out how good you are on the grill. The contest is being organized by first responders but is open to everyone who wants to compete.

 
Categories for the judging will be determine the best in show in the following: Chicken, Pork, Beef, Side Dish,  Emergency Services Entry (Police, Fire, EMS) and Overall.
Teams can start cooking anytime after Friday, June 15th at 19:00 with judging to occur on Saturday evening. Judging will be performed by a panel of “celebrity judges” and teams need to have enough samples to feed the judges.
To enter this BBQ challenge, please contact QFC by email at feedback@quakertownfire.com or by phone at 908-735-5220. A full set of rules will be presented as well as a registration form. A $100 deposit will be accepted for each spot and returned the day of the competition.

With high winds and very dry conditions, April 9th had all the makings of a busy day for firefighters.  At 10:58, QFC was dispatched to Box 91-03 at 10 Woodland Rd in Franklin Twp for a woods fire.  Brush 91 responded immediately and arrived at 11:03 with a quickly spreading fire and went to work.  Upon arrival, mutual aid brush trucks were summoned from High Bridge and Raritan Twp.  Engine 91, Tender 91-1 and Reserve Engine 91 also responded and assisted in fire suppression.  NJ Forest Units as well as Kingwood Twp Fire was dispatched although the bulk of .5 acre was knocked down.  The cause of this fire was thought to be arcing from electrical wiring,  The immediate response by our crews limited the spread of fire to structures in the vicinity.

While units were operating on Woodland, Box 91-01 was dispatched for a wire down with a brush fire on Landsdown Rd in Franklin Twp.  Clinton and Annandale Fire were also dispatched due to the conditions and location of the incident.  Units, also, cleared Woodland and headed to Landsdown and found down wires starting a fire.  Surrounding areas were soaked with water to ensure the fire didnt spread while waiting for JCPL to arrive.

At 12:51, QFC units were dispatched to Turtle Court in Raritan Twp for a outdoor fire close to the house.  Brush 91, Engine 91 and Tender 91 responded immedately.  Brush 91 arrived and found an extinguished mulch and tree fire and soaked down the area to ensure the fire did not restart. 

While the rest of the day was calm, the weather conditions will become dangerous again as the weekend approaches with forecasts for higher temperatures and winds to pick-up.  Please continue to be careful with ingition sources.

At 1515 hours, QFC was alerted for a helicopter stand-by for a dirt bike accident on Dark Hollow Lane in Alexandria Township.  In addition to the Chiefs, Squad 91 (D/C Nye) responded immediately with 5 FF/EMTs and while enroute they were moved up to the scene to assist with patient care.  The crew also secured the motorcycle and a small fuel spill. Engine 91 (FF Haggerty) responded to set up the landing zone at Alexandria Airport.

After performing patient care, the Chiefs and Squad 91 responded with the BLS crew to the landing zone.  The crew assisted the BLS with loading the patient and transferred care to NJSP Northstar.

Rescue 91 responded twice this week to the eastern section of Hunterdon County for 2nd-alarm house fires.

On Monday, at 15:07, Rescue 91 was special called to 81 Old Rt 28 in Readington for the house fire.  Rescue 91 (Lt Crampton) responded with 4 men immediately and functioned onscene for about 2 hours.

On Friday, at 01:05, Rescue 91 was requested on the 2nd alarm to 2 Old Farm Lane in Tewksbury for the working house fire.  Rescue 91 (D/C Vallat) responded with 5 men and performed "truck work" on the scene and filled over 40 SCBA cyclinders.  Rescue 91 was back in quarters available at 05:30.

QFC will be hosting its 3rd Annual Easter Flower sale on Easter Weekend, April 6th-8th. The hours for the sale will be Good Friday 9AM-7PM, Saturday 9AM-5PM, and Easter Sunday 9AM-12PM.

A new addiiton this year is the Good Friday Soup Sale.  Four homemade soups are available for purchase, Minestrone, Potato Leek, Roasted Butternut Squash and Italian Wedding.  The soup sale will run from 12 pm to 7 pm or until the soup sells out. Soup is $ 5 and includes bread!

For information or to pre-order your soup, call QFC at 908-735-5220.

Quakertown Fire Company will be donating 2000 candy-filled eggs as part of our sponsorship of the PBA 188 Egg Hunt.  The Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Sunday, April 1st (No joke) at 10 AM at the Clinton Elks located on Sidney Road in Franklin Twp.

Across NJ, Fire Districts will hold their elections this Saturday from 2pm to 9pm.  Our polling place is the fire station and the budget remains basically unchaged for the third year in a row with a total of $389, 906.  $298,200 will come from taxes in Franklin Twp while the tax rate will dip slighty.  Two commissioner positions are open and Mike Homulak and Pete Enea III are the only two registered.

The Fire District Budget supports the activities of the Quakertown Fire Company.  QFC answered 614 calls for service last year with over 50 different volunteer firefighters or EMTs manning our station. 

At 00:13, Rescue 91 was dispatched as part of the 2nd Alarm Assignment on Box 24-40 for a working house in Tewksbury Twp on Bridge Hollow Rd.  Engine 44-1 (Califon) arrived with heavy fire from the garage of a large 2.5-story single family dwelling.  Rescue 91 with 6 volunteers responded within 2 minutes and joined High Bridge Fire in providing rapid intervention coverage for the crews.

Outstanding work by the 1st alarm companies led to a quick-knock.  Rescue 91 was available in quarters at 03:00.

Quakertown Fire units were requested for a Hazardous Materials Spill from a tractor trailer at Pittstown Rd and Whitebridge Rd at around 15:30.  Squad 91 and Rescue 91 initially responded and found a trailer leaking a corrosive liquid and applied defensive methods to contain the run-off.  The Hunterdon County HazMat Team and County OEM were notified and responded.  QFC units stood-by while entry was made into the trailer and provided decon for the entry team from HazMat.  A private clean-up company responded and Pittstown Rd was closed till about 23:30 hours.

Squad 91, Engine 91, Rescue 91, BLS 91-51, BLS 91-52, Car 91-2, Car 91-3 and Car 91-4 with 19 volunteers

In early 2012, QFC added 2 more EMTs to our EMS membership.  EMTs Gail Maloney and Kara Cherney successfully completed their training and testing and are now working on the ambulances with the assigned crews.  Maloney, of Franklin Twp, and Cherney, of Union Twp, both came to QFC with no previous experience and have doubled our number of female first-responders.

QFC hosted a two-day seminar run by Instructor Chris Naum of BuildingsonFire.com on Jan 13th and 14th.  Topics of discuss included new building construction, size-up and the intial 10-minute operational period.  Thanks to all who attended and made for a productive weekend.