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The Proud Home of Company 2 |
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2009 Press Release Page
PRESS RELEASE Date: November 12, 2007 To:
All Area Press Shortly before 1:00 AM Thursday morning
November 12, 2009, New Martinsville Fire Fighters responded to a single vehicle
South of Valley Tire near the “lift station” along The female victim was removed from the wreckage of her vehicle by Fire Fighters using hydraulic rescue tools (often referred to as the “Jaws of Life”). The southbound vehicle apparently left the roadway on the east side, striking a large pine tree resulting in heavy damage to the vehicle & entrapping the victim. The vehicle was found by a Wetzel County Sheriff’s Deputy who was on routine patrol and who was a short distance behind the vehicle at the time of the crash. 10- NMVFD personnel remained on the
scene for nearly 2-hours while the investigation of the accident was completed
and debris was removed. Other agencies on the scene included: The Wetzel County
Sheriffs Department, New Martinsville and Paden City Police Department’s, MEMORANDUM Date: July 20, 2009 The rapid changes that have taken place
in our fire department over the past several years have highlighted how
important it is that we research and catalog our past. The fire service is rich
in history going back into ancient times, while ours locally may not be that
old, we know that our fire department has a long and proud tradition of
voluntary service to the community. PRESS RELEASE
Date: June 3rd, 2009 Fire Department Search and Rescue teams
discovered the body of 23-year old Elijah Anderson of Moundsville at
approximately 4:00 PM Tuesday afternoon, in the
PRESS RELEASE
Date: March 29, 2009
The sole occupant, Ms. Nora J. Hood escaped injury in the blaze, which appeared to have begun in the middle of the home near the furnace room. Neighbors reported seeing the fire coming from behind the woman as she was exiting the home. Fire Fighters, who began arriving four minutes after the initial call, encountered a fully involved structural fire and were faced with high winds and downed, live power lines which slowed their advance on the fire. “We deployed numerous hand-lines to engage the advancing fire and to keep it away from neighboring structures, once those were in place we were able to begin knocking down the seat of the fire”, said Larry Couch, Chief of the New Martinsville Fire Department. 1-Fire Fighter was taken to Wetzel County Hospital after he suffered an ankle injury in the initial attack of the fire, he was treated and released form the hospital. The home was completely consumed by the blaze. “We are placing an initial estimate of at least $105,000 in damages to the home and its contents”, Couch said. “At this time, the fire appears to be nothing more than an accidental fire, we have consulted with the WV Fire Marshals Office, we’ll complete our investigation Monday morning and file the normal report with the fire marshal’s office”, Couch said. 12-Fire Fighters from the New Martinsville Department along with 12- additional Fire Fighters from the Paden City Volunteer Fire Company battled the blaze and were assisted on the scene by: New Martinsville Police, Wetzel County EMS, Allegheny Power, Mountaineer Gas and New Martinsville Water Department.
PRESS RELEASE Date: February 27, 2009 To: All Local Outlets From: Larry W. Couch, Fire Chief Re: Spring Fire Season Begins
The New Martinsville Fire Department would like to remind everyone that the Spring Forest Fire Season began on Sunday, March 1, 2009 and that it will run through the end of May, according to New Martinsville Fire Chief, Larry W. Couch.
In 2008, the majority of wildfires was caused by people and their carelessness. People who allowed debris fires to escape into the surrounding woods caused 35% of the fires; people who deliberately set fires (arson/incendiary) caused 26%; and people using equipment near or in the woods caused another 19% of all forest fires. The other 20% of forest fires in West Virginia was caused by campfires, children, smokers, and railroads. Some of that 20% were attributed to miscellaneous causes and lightning, and others are still under investigation.
Forestry officials suggest in addition to obeying the state's forest fires laws that residents should never burn anything on a windy day, make sure the area they are burning in is clear of flammable materials, and have tools, such as a rake, shovel, or water hose handy in case the fire does escape.
If you live in the Corporate limits of the City of New Martinsville, you must apply for a burning permit by calling the New Martinsville Police Department, at least 48-hours prior to your desired burn time, at 304-455-9100 where the communications officer will gather your information and pass that along to the Fire Chief who will do a site visit prior to the issuance of a Burning Permit.
We don’t like to see people burning debris at their properties, many times these debris fires lead to neighborhood complaints regarding smoke, creating neighbor feuds and we have even had these fires escape the homeowner resulting in an emergency response by the fire department. We would also like remind everyone that the City provides for an annual spring clean-up to help avoid such debris fires, Couch said.
For more information you can go to the New Martinsville Volunteer Fire Departments website and click on the “Outdoor Burning” link, or contact the West Virginia Division of Forestry at 304-558-2788
PRESS RELEASE
Date: March 2, 2009 To: All Local Outlets From: Larry W. Couch, Fire Chief Re: Major Fire Averted
New Martinsville Fire Fighters responded to a vehicle fire at the corner of Locust Street and Linden Avenue early Monday morning and found a Ford Bronco fully involved and nearly completely consumed by the blaze. Not a devastating fire, but the fact that the Bronco was parked within one foot of the former Southern States feed store and positioned directly under the buildings overhang, fire fighters are perplexed as to why the Historical Feed Store didn’t ignite.
The only things that we can really say may have kept the large building from becoming involved in the blaze were the very strong north winds and the cold temperatures, according to Larry W. Couch, Fire Chief.
Fire fighters knocked-down the vehicle fire and were quickly assigned to force entry to the feed store and check for fire extension. They made their way all the way to the 4th level of the building and found no fire extension but encounter very dangers structural conditions inside.
This building is in very poor condition with numerous voids and open floors, probably one of the worst that I have been in as far as traps for fire fighters or anyone else who might enter the building would be concerned, Couch said.
The Blaze was called-in by a crew on-board a passing CSX Train just prior to 1:00 AM, crews remained on scene until shortly after 2:00 AM. 10-Fire Fighters responded to the call along with New Martinsville Police Department and Jacksons Towing.
The vehicle fire has been ruled as suspicious by the fire department and remains under investigation by the New Martinsville Police Department.
PRESS RELEASE
Date: February 12, 2009 New Martinsville Fire Fighters were kept busy both Wednesday evening and Thursday responding to at least sixteen calls from area residents for assistance, after a storms fierce wind gusts played havoc with utility and traffic service’s The calls began coming in at 6:45 PM Wednesday with the first call coming from 41 Anson Street, in the Steelton section of New Martinsville, this was a report of lines in the yard. These were what appeared to be phone lines, according to Fire Chief, Larry Couch. Additional calls Wednesday evening included: a trampoline in the utility lines in front of 801 Susan Street, a tree on a porch roof at residence on Martin Avenue, a tree blocking the roadway at three locations on Doolin Run Road. The department also responded to trees down at two locations on WV Route #7 and one location on WV Route #180. The calls continued into Thursday morning and afternoon when fire fighters were summoned to the area of 404 Virginia Street for power lines that were on fire in some pine trees, then a slide involving two very large boulders on WV Route #2 North of New Martinsville, a Smoke Alarm activated in a trailer at 64-West triple AAA Trailer Court a Rock Slide on WV RT# 7 near the Wetzel County 4-H Grounds as well as a tree down on power lines with the lines on fire at box 68 on Doolin Run Road and a Tree blocking the roadway at box 72, Doolin Run Road. The majority of the calls were fairly simple clean-up calls to remove debris from the roadway or to assess other storm damage and notify the appropriate services to handle the situation, Couch said. A total of thirteen fire fighters responded to the numerous and various different calls. NMVFD was assisted by Wetzel County EMS, New Martinsville Municipal Electric, New Martinsville Street Department, West Virginia Department of Highways, Allegheny Energy and others during the series of calls.
Press Release Date: January 2, 2009 To: Area Press From: Larry W. Couch, Fire Chief Re: Department Receives New Ambulance
The New Martinsville Fire Department began offering EMS services as a supplemental service to that which was already in place throughout the county after an incident in early fall of 2001 where fire fighters waited for 45-minutes with a burn victim on Doolin Run Road. All of the area ambulances were already occupied on other emergencies, we had a gentleman who had accidentally cut into a natural gas line and was seriously burned, we had our own EMT’s on the scene providing treatment, but no means by which to properly transport the victim to the hospital, according to Larry Couch, NMVFD Fire Chief.
Then President and Assistant Fire Chief, Kelly Nelsen, appointed a committee to investigate the need and viability of a supplemental EMS provider to that already offered at the county level. The department was able to determine the obvious need and viability and met with Wetzel County Emergency Ambulance Authority officials and were able to work-out a Mutual Aid Agreement.
The County Ambulance Authority had reasonable concerns and fears that it was our intent to try to leverage all of the EMS calls in the New Martinsville Corporate Limits, which would have obviously cut deeply into their ability to generate funds for the support of their operation, that was never our intent, we simply want to be able to help the sick and injured when we can.
Beginning in December of 2001, the fire department began the process of writing policies and procedures, and completed all of the WV Department of Health, Office of Emergency Medical Services requirements. Then on April 14th, 2002 the department was inspected, received a “Superior Rating” from the Department of Health, and gecame a licensed EMS agency at 11:00 AM taking its first call that same day in Sistersville, transporting its first patient to Sistersville General Hospital. Since that first call the department has transported more than 500 patients to numerous hospitals throughout the region as well as serving in various sporting and community events as the EMS provider.
The department has responded to EMS calls as far away as Burton WV, near Hundred in extreme Eastern Wetzel County and has transported patients to: Wetzel County Hospital, Sistersville General Hospital, Reynolds Memorial Hospital, East Ohio Regional Hospital, Wheeling Hospital, Ohio Valley Medical Center, Fairmont General Hospital, United Hospital Center, and Marietta Memorial Hospital.
We pride ourselves on quick, efficient response and with the fact that we know the majority of our patients or they know us. We treat our patients with a great deal of respect and dignity, understanding that we may be their attendants during one of the greatest times of need in their life. We want our patients to know that we truly care about them, their injuries or illness and that they aren’t simply another patient with us, Couch said.
The fire departments new ambulance is, what is referred to in the ambulance industry as a rebuilt unit. The ambulance compartment doesn’t really get “worn out”, but the chassis does, so they remove the Ambulance Body and place a new chassis under it, making any necessary updates for new standard requirements. This saves a lot of money and time in renewing the unit.
In our case, we were quoted a new ambulance for a cost of $ 147,000.00. But we were able to get a re-built ambulance for $ 69,000.00 and few would be able to tell the difference between the rebuilt unit and a new ambulance, Couch said.
The department added several supplemental safety features to the new ambulance in the interest of both responder and patient safety including: Supplemental forced fresh air inlets to enhance ventilation and removal of any airborne bacteria, additional front, rear and side lighting for response and scene safety, video backing camera for backing safety, highest available emission standards for 2008 diesel engines, expanded amount of reflective material exceeding the federal standards for side and rear visibility, and high efficiency LED emergency lighting.
The new ambulance is also equipped with radios that allow full inner-operability with neighboring agencies in other counties and state’s including communications on VHF High Band, VHF Low Band and UHF 400 Mhz mobile radios.
The new unit has already responded to its first calls, including 2-calls on Wednesday, the 31st of December. The first call, was a smoke scare in a house on Fairview Drive, the second, a car crash in Reader. The first patient was transported in the unit from Pine Grove to Wetzel County Hospital, early New Years Day.
The department needs EMT’s or people who would like to become EMT’s, if your interested in becoming a member of the department as either a fire fighter or EMT or both, you can go to its website at (www.fdnm.org), stop by the departments Ohio Street Station or contact any member of the department for an application.
We are an all volunteer department, we pay for the training of our members and encourage members to continue to always enrich their training with response to calls and through continuing education.
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New
Martinsville Fire Fighters responded to a fire at 58 Helen Street at 4:20 Sunday
afternoon after neighbors began calling 911 reporting smoke and fire coming from
the structure.
On
Monday, December 29th, 2008 the New Martinsville Fire Department took
delivery of its new 2008 Ford Ambulance from US CoachWorks, Inc. of Kansas City
Missouri. This new unit marks the departments first new ambulance since it
began offering EMS services to the community in April 2002, replacing a 1991
ambulance that the department purchased as a used unit in the fall of 2001.