In the early morning hours of March 1, 2014, at 5:24 hours, units from the West Grove Fire Company were dispatched to assist Station 23, Avondale Fire Company, on a working hale bale fire, on Penn Green Road. Avondale units were dispatched with the information of a pile 15’ x 15’ involved at 5:06 hours. Deputy 23 was first on scene and corrected the report of a pile 200’ x 200’ with 25% involved. With that information, Chief 23 upgraded the assignment by adding and Engine and Tanker each from Hockessin (St.19), Kennett (St.24), and West Grove (St22), and set up Penn Green Command. Engine and Tanker responded together minutes after dispatch. Po-Mar-Lin (St.36) and Longwood Fire Company (St.25) were also later added to the incident.
Once on scene, Engine 22 was ordered to drive down the hay bale wharf, and reverse lay their supply line. Engine 23-2 was first arriving engine; they drove down the long path in between the pile of unburned hay, stopping short of the pile that is engulfed. Doing so, they dropped their load of 5” supply hose. Engine 22 drove down to connect to that end of hose, than laying their bed of hose back up to the hard road. From there, Engine 22 set up and supplied the scene with water. As Tanker 23, Tanker, 24, Tanker 36¸and Tanker 22 arrived on scene, their loads of water were pumped into Engine 22, than pumped down the lane to the scene. Through the duration, Engine 22 pumped for 3 hours, and supplied 24, 500 gallons of water to Engine 23-2.
Crews by the fire worked hard to create a “break” in the pile of burning hay. They were successfully able to save a portion of the pile by utilizing tractors and loaders, supplied by the property owners, to move the hay around and by flowing several hand lines and a 2 ½” Blitz attack line. Once the break was created, Command placed the situation under control. At that time, tankers were able to return to their respective quarters. Engine 22 stayed on scene until 11:15, when the supply line was broken down, and packed on to an awaiting pickup truck. The hose was then taken back to Station 22, where crews were on hand to repack the hose load, wash the apparatus, and get the company back in service. The company was ready for service shortly after noon.
