Sterling Volunteer Fire Company

Here’s a nice photo of Engine 618 in the bay at fire station 18 taken by D/O Kevin Makowski.

Sundays are usually a relatively quiet day for fire and rescue crews in Sterling, but Mother Nature didn’t keep it that way for long. Between the the hours of 6:30 and midnight, crews from both stations responded to over 10 calls due to the heavy rain and thunderstorms in the area.

During the middle of the monsoon, E611 was dispatched to a reported house that was on fire “in the area of” Crest Dr and Old Hunt Way in Herndon. E404 marked on the scene with heavy fire from the 2nd floor of a single family home. E611 arrived on scene, assumed 2nd due engine work, and assisted with throwing ladders to 3 sides of the structure. Despite an aggressive attack, units were forced outside until the fire could be controlled from the exterior. Command called for additional resources adding E618 on the assignment. Finally at 11:15pm, E611 cleared the fireground to head back to change into some dry clothes. For those that were not so quick and decided to eat dinner first, they were left to deal with wet clothes and water logged boots for another box assignment to Falcon’s Landing just before midnight.

While units were busy operating on the fireground in Herndon, the creek on Lakeland Dr decided to overflow onto the roadway and strand a car that happened to be on the road at that exact moment! T611, Q618, E618, and units from Sterling rescue safely removed the occupant of the vehicle.

On Friday June 23rd, at approximately 2345, crews from Sterling, Ashburn and Fairfax responded to a reported house fire on Potomac View Road. Engine 618 arrived on scene to find a small shed fully involved. The crew of 618 pulled the leader line and quickly extinguished the fire. The crew from Engine 611 and Quint 611 assisted Engine 618 in extinguishing the fire as well as establish a water supply for Engine 618. Deputy Chief 18 established fire ground command. Crew 7 would like to thank all members that responded to the stations to staff additional pieces.

Just before 7:00 pm on Thursday, June 15th a house fire was reported in Forest Ridge. Units from Sterling, Fairfax (Herndon), Ashburn, and Dulles Airport responded. Engine 611 arrived to find light smoke showing from the first floor. Further investigation found a small fire in the basement. E611 and Truck 611 were able to handle the call and placed the rest of the units in service.

Later that evening E611 responded to a car fire on E Poplar Drive in Sterling Park.

On the evening of June 10th the Sterling Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a Hazardous Material spill across the street from Station 11. Apparently a 5 gallon bucket had fallen off a passing vehicle and dispersed a white powder. With Engine 11 returning from a fire alarm, Engine 18 was first on the scene. Engine 18 established water supply and began recon to identify the white powder. After taking pictures of the bucket and passing it on to Command. The product was identified as a pool sanitizing agent. Engine 11 manned the hose line for decon operations. Chief 11 and Battalion 2 arrived and assisted at the command post. Once Loudoun County Hazmat Team arrived they established a safe perimeter and began clean-up operations. Once a majority of the product was cleaned-up Engine 11 moved in and washed down the area. All units were in service within 2.5 hours.