Units from the West Grove Fire Company joined fire departments from two states and four counties in a large mutual aid response to assist the Longwood Fire Company on Sunday afternoon.

The fire was dispatched at 4:38pm at 226 S. Fairville Road in Kennett Township, with WGFC requested for Ladder 22 to serve as the RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) to support Longwood Station 25, along with units originally from Kennett Square and a Tanker from Hockessin.

With multiple calls to the 911 Center and the rural nature of the call, Chief 25 requested a full working fire dispatch and a Tanker Task Force prior to arrival on scene. The working fire dispatch adds additional units to the call, and the Tanker Task Force adds additional water Tankers since there were no fire hydrants close to this fire scene. Upon arrival, there was a large multi-bay garage carriage house with heavy fire showing. While the garage was detached from the main residence, the heavy volume of fire had the main house at risk from fire exposure.

Hearing reports of the need for Tankers and the pending working fire dispatch, West Grove units responded with Tanker 22, along with Engine 22-2, in addition to Ladder 22. On arrival, 22 units were put to work with ventilation and overhaul work, as the fire from the large carriage house had spread to the nearby main residence through the exterior wall on the second floor and up into the attic spaces. After about an hour, the fire was under control, with units on scene for several hours. Tankers shuttled water from a fire hydrant near the Fairville Inn on Route 52 a mile from the fire scene.

Various Fire Companies from across the region responded to this fire in support of the firefighting and tanker operation. Numerous more companies, including some from Lancaster County, provided standby support in various fire houses, including the Christiana (Lancaster) Fire Company 5-2, which had a unit standing by in West Grove during the incident.