Sterling Volunteer Fire Company

Saturday evening was a typical evening in Sterling for the SVFC. The men and women of Crew 7 were on duty, staffing Engines 611 and 618, (Quint 618 running as) Truck 611, and the command unit. Meanwhile in Purcellville the members of the Purcellville Volunteer Fire Company were gathered for their annual banquet. In January when the SVFC held our banquet the PVFC provided staffing for our units, and it was time to return the favor. Members from Sterling were also staffing Engine 602, TowerLadder 602, and Tanker 602 in Purcellville. In addition to that Ashburn Volunteer Fire and Rescue reached out to Sterling for help staffing their truck company, and Sterling responded with another crew to staff Truck 606. The dedication of the membership of the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company once again demonstrates why the SVFC is one of the most respected volunteer fire companies in the region.

About 30 minutes after shift change on Friday evening Engines 618 and 611 and Truck 611 were alerted for a chimney fire in Sugarland. Captain 611 and SERV 611 also responded. Engine 618 arrived on scene to find no fire visible from the outside. They stretched a hose line to the front door and began to investigate. A small amount of fire was found in the fire box and was extinguished using a dry chemical extinguisher. Truck 611 arrived on scene and proceeded to the roof via a 35 foot ground ladder, while interior crews check the attic and the rest of the interior. The fire was confirmed to be out and was contained to the fireplace and chimney. Units returned to service.

A short while later, around 8:00pm, Engines 618, 611, 623 from Ashburn, 439 from Fairfax, Truck 611, Squads 615 and 439, Ambulance 625, CT6 from Ashburn, and Battalion 601 were alerted for a vehicle into a structure in Cascades. Captain 611 and SERV 611 also responded. Engine 618 arrived on scene and reported an SUV through the front glass of a dry cleaners. EMS personnel attended to the driver of the vehicle while suppression personnel check the building for other hazards. The damage appeared to be superficial and most units were returned to service and a building inspector was called to make a detailed assessment of the structure.

Less than an hour after returning to service Truck 611 was alerted for an EMS assist with Trauma 615 and Medic 439 from Fairfax. SERV 611 marked up in place of the truck due to the nature of the call, a trauma patient. Personnel from SERV 611 would handle the call and leave Truck 611 available for other calls that might require the ladder truck itself. EMS providers determined that the patient would be flown via helicopter to the hospital and Engine 618 was dispatched to set up the landing zone. Engine 611 responded from station 18 to handle the call and Captain 611 responded manage the growing incident. Aircare 4 transported the patient (while at the same time Aircare 1 was transporting a patient from an auto accident in the west end of the county).

On Tuesday evening the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Training Center held a graduation ceremony to recognize those who completed Firefighter I, Firefigter II, or EMT during the fall 2008 session. As usual the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company was well represented. All of these classes take many hours (around 20 hours a week, for 3-6 months) of classroom lectures, training evolutions, and study and practice time away from class. The instructors also recognize the top student in each class. Firefighter Dennis Andrews was recognized as the Top Student in the Firefighter I/II class, and Technician Rebecca Welsch was recognized as the Top Student in the EMT-B class. The SVFC is proud to recognize all these individuals for their dedication.

Firefighter I/II (combined)
Dennis Andrews
Geoff Chalfant
Rafael Coelho
Alex Phillips
Ben Phillips
David Shaw

Firefighter II
Andrew Fotinos
Mario Gomez
Brent Kochel
Steven Lloyd

EMT-B
Greg Eells
Keith Firmin
Jon Hickman
Kevin Marshall
Jeff Murray
Nathan Ogden
Jamison Roseberry
Lindsay Vanmiddlesworth
Rebecca Welsch
Mark Whittington

SVFC graduate with Chief Buchanan
Photo by: Tim Duckworth

Technician Rebecca Welsch and Firefighter Dennis Andrews
Photo by: David Short

In January Crew 5 and the rest of the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company duty crews participated in our annual EMS refresher courses, including CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator) training. All crews are required to complete this training every January to maintain our EMS skills, in addition to the many hours of fire training throughout the year. At 6:15pm Engine 611 was alerted along with Medic 615 for a cardiac arrest in Sterling Park. Units arrived on scene and confirmed a working code and began patient care (which includes CPR and the AED). 15 minutes later Truck 611 and Ambulance 625 were alerted for an unknown medical emergency in Sterling Park. Truck 611 arrived on scene and confirmed a cardiac arrest bringing additional EMS units to the scene while they continued patient care. Both patients were transported to the hospital and crews returned to service.

At 03:22am on Saturday Truck 611 was dispatched, along with Engines 619, 609, 415 from Fairfax, 380 from Dulles Airport, Tower 619, Truck 438 from Fairfax, Ambulance 619, and BC 601, for a structure fire in South Riding. Engine 607 and Medic 609 were soon added, and BC 602, BC 402, and SO 402 also responded. The caller advised there was smoke coming from the windows of a house converted to offices. Engine 619 advised heavy smoke in the area as they were approaching. E619 began an interior attack on the first floor while TL619 began a search. They advised that they believed there may be fire in the basement and ER609 and T438 began operations to extinguish it. The fire was brought under control in about 30 minutes and units remained on scene for salvage and overhaul operations and to await the arrival of the fire marshal.

After going to Ashburn for apartment fires and being put in service twice in recent shifts the folks from Crew 2 were called upon to respond to another box alarm. At about 2:20am on Thursday morning Engines 611 and 618, Truck 611, Engine and Rescue 439 from Fairfax, Engine 623 from Ashburn, Ambulance 615 from SVRS, and Battalion Chief 602 from LCFR were alerted for a house fire in Sterling. Chief 611, Deputy Chief 618, SERV 611, Squad 615 from SVRS, and BC 401 from Fairfax also marked responding. Dispatch advised a caller reported fire on the outside of the house. Engine 611 marked on scene of an end unit townhouse with nothing evident upon arrival. Further investigation found an exterior fire to the rear of the townhouse. While E611 began to extinguish the fire E618 and T611 began to search the structure for victims and to check for fire extension in the interior of the structure. After determining that all occupants were safe and the fire was extinguished command held E611, E618, T611, RS615 and released everybody else. Units remained on scene performing overhaul and to await the arrival of the fire marshal.

The Sterling Volunteer Fire Company has made our call statistics available on this site. The overview for the year is visible on the right, below the Navigation section. A link is also provided to a page that shows the breakdown of calls by type for the last month. You can see that information here. Soon we hope to add some more information about what the call types are. We hope that this information will help keep the citizens of Sterling informed about what services we provide and how their donations are being used.