Pictured above are members of the Liberty, New Holland Fire Co. accepting the Distinguished Service Award from John Alexander, Board Chairman, left and Steve Roy, President, right. Accepting were l to r, Kenny Allison, Keith Snowberger, Jack Rutter, Nick Smoker, Glenn Eberly,and Bat. Chief Darryl Keiser.

On July 31st of 2010 at l0:37 am, volunteers were dispatched to 535 West Main Street in New Holland Borough for an environmental rescue.

The property owner was attempting to repair a sink hole with stone dust and a motorized tamper when suddenly a false bottom in an abandoned well collapsed sending the citizen and his whacker plate to the bottom.

The initial report given to volunteers was a male fell into a 5 foot diameter well, 25 feet down.

With a combined rescue team of medical personnel and technical rescuers, initial contact was made with the victim who was conscious and alert yet complaining of pain as a result of the fall.

Immediately air monitoring was established along with purging the well with fresh air. At first it was considered to lower a ladder in the hole and have the victim self extricate but due to the complaints of pain from the fall and the fact that the victim’s statuswas stable, it was decided to handle the rescue as a confined space incident.

Confined space equipment was deployed from Rescue 3-9 and Air 3-9 and set up. Thanks to the fire police having the traffic diverted off Main Street, volunteers were able to access the apparatus out on the street without the concern of traffic.

A tripod was set over the hole and preparations were made to lower a rescuer on breathing air down to assist the victim, now on oxygen, into a harness to be raised to safety.

Due to the fact that Truck 3-9 was out of service because of an issue with the aerial device, Truck 4-2 was automatically dispatched to assist. Truck 4-2 was backed into the driveway of the residence to provide a secondary anchor point over the well and the 4-2 crew was assigned to establish a haul system.

The rescuer was lowered into the hole and assisted the patient into a harness which was then extricated out of the hole at ll:39 am, 1 hour and 2 minutes after dispatch.

The victim was then turned over to medical personnel, who had been in contact with him the entire time, for transportation to the hospital for evaluation.

Thanks to training, equipment and experience,volunteers were able to handle this rescue with professionalism, safety and efficiency. The working relationship between the emergency medical services and the fire service was key in accomplishing a successful rescue.

Following is the crews from Station 3-9 who on July 31, 2010 used their skills and rapid response in removing an injured man from a sink hole at 535 W. Main Street.

A/C Ray HarnishFF Corbin Keiser

D/C Jeff MartinFF Ivan King

B/C Darryl KeiserFF Ben Kopp

Cpt. Butch JohnstonFF Irvin Martin

Cpt. Mike FryerFF Matt Martin

Lt. Earl Witmer FF Jerry Mason

FF Gerald BilgerFF Jim Nolt

FF Mitch Buzzard FF Paul Nolt

FF Glenn EberlyFF Jack Rutter

FF Greg FisherFF Nick Smoker

FF Dennis Gaul FF Keith Snowberger

FF Glen Good FF Troy Weaver

FF Brendon Harnish FP Jeff Davidson

FF Tom Helmick FP Ray Frank

FF Daniel Huyard

FP Mike Gerig

We Thank. . . FP Nelson Mohler

The crew of Truck 4-2 on July 31, 2010 for their skilled and rapid response in assisting Station 3-9 at an environmental rescue at 535 W. Main Street.

Capt. Dave Rathbun

FF Mitch Bradley

Cpt. Loren Glick

FF Chris Kennedy

FF Brad Kurtz

The crew of Ambulance 3-7 on July 31, 2010 for their assistance at an environmental rescue at 535 W. Main Street.

EMS Chief Darrell Fisher

EMS Trina Eby

EMS Abby Eby

The crew of Medic 9 on July 31, 2010 for their assistance at an environmental rescue at 535 W. Main Street.

EMT-P Harold Conner