A hot, sunny, rainy, cool 4th of July

The 4th of July in the Washington-area is like no other in the country, and this year was no different. The day started out hot and muggy, with temperatures in the mid-90's. A early evening downpour brought a serious amount of rain and hail, causing an evacuation of several traditional fireworks viewing areas in Arlinton, including the Iwo Jima memorial. Joe Lowry of the Cherrydale VFD joined members of the Falls Church and Ballston VFD's in providing EMS services along the George Washington Memorial Parkway from Theodore Roosevelt Island to Gravelly Point and up to the Iwo Jima memorial. While surprisingly no serious injuries were reported all day, it was an excellent day for a ride as a member of the EMS bike team.

CVFD to Fairfax County for flood relief

On Friday, June 30, 2006, four members of the Cherrydale VFD took time off of work in order to provide support to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue units by assisting with flood recovery in the Huntington section of the county. Scott Pardi, Joe Lowry, Dee Allen and Ben Sorenson took Light and Air 103 and Utility 103 to the scene. That section of Fairfax had been under several feet of water following torential rains during the previous week. Cameron Run, a stream behind the nieghborhood, overflowed its banks and created flash flood conditions on Sunday and Monday. Residents who noticed an inch of water in their basements within minutes found 10 feet of water.

Outside of a few volunteer command officers, Cherrydale VFD fielded the only "working" team at the disaster site. The four members on the team provided heavy lifting, being tasked with removing appliances from flooded basements. The tally for the long day included 11 washers and dryers, one large freezer, one door (for disposal), a kiln, a dozen cinder blocks and some small shelving not to mention removing at least four other doors to allow room for appliance removal, one 4-drawer lateral file cabinet, several loads of debris, and landscaping timbers. We also provided lighting to several basements so other debris removing volunteers could operate.

Thanks go out to the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department as well as the several volunteer fire departments we worked with during the day. They had a very well organized and professional operation going on. Also thanks to the Salvation Army for providing us with lunch.

Summer weather floods Arlington

A rash of summer storms have left numerous locations in Arlington without power and under several feet of water. Since Sunday morning at midnight, Arlington has received 9.4 inches of rain. On Sunday and Monday nights, volunteer crews put LA103 and UT106 in service to answer public service calls (wires down, flooded basements, etc.). LA103 was even put on a medical call, not its normal forte. The communications center didn't have a local engine, so the call came over the air, "Arlington to LA103. Do you have medical capability?" Sure enough we do, so the unit responded for the sick person with a County medic unit. All told, LA103 and UT106 ran around 30 calls during the two nights, most of them on Sunday. The crews for the two nights included Tony Schloss, Justin Kirby, Joe Lowry, Sam Azar, Jim Clarke, Steve Sissler, Scott Pardi, Sarah Greer, Rob McCarry, Bill Haley, and Paul Schomburg.

CVFD at Indoc

On Saturday and Sunday (6/24 and 6/25), the rain couldn't stop the two new members of the CVFD from particpating in the hose load sections of the Indoc class at the Fire Training Academy. A member of Co. 6, Charles Frey, was there taking pictures of the day. CVFD FF-R Joe Lowry was on hand as an assistant instructor. Tony Schloss and Robin Davis were the lead instructors.


Baber and Sorenson on the pipe. Here they are learning how to work with an 1.75-inch hose line.


Leading the rehab sector with Dan Neumann (Co. 6), Lowry looks good under the tent.


Working the pipe, Part Duex.


Light and Air 103 is on the job. After the work, Frey took this picture of the LA unit.

One dead at N. Edgewood Fire

With volunteer firefighters Eric Lekus and Joe Lowry aboard, ECC dispatched Engine 103 to the 2400 Block of North Edgewood Street for an outside fire. Upon arrival the crew found a bird nest on fire inside a street lamp 30 feet above the street level. Once Truck 104 pulled the nest down, the fire was extinguished with Lekus on the 'line'. Despite the efforts of all involved, a young nestling succumbed to injuries sustained in the fast moving nest fire. Units were out for 30 minutes.

Photo and story context by Captain Randy Higgins, 103-C

LA103 kept busy over the weekend

For Light and Air 103, anything more than one call per week is considered busy. This weekend, we responded to two calls for service and were unable to make a third because we were still working the second. Besides being a great lighting and SCBA replishment vehicle, LA103 has extensive salvage and overhaul capabilities. The first call was Friday, June 2 for a blown sprinkler head on the 16th floor of the Hyatt Hotel on Wilson Blvd. in Rosslyn. The crew of Ambulance 102 placed their unit out of service in order to staff LA103. Joe Lowry, Jim Clarke, Paul Schomburg and James Fortner worked this call for two hours removing water from two floors of the hotel. The second was Sunday, June 4 at 4300 S. 29th Street, Arlington County's street sign department, next door to the fire training academy. A broken pipe on a water cooler kept the crew of Joe Lowry, Jim Clarke and Tony Schloss busy. Between the two calls, we put in almost four hours of water removal. As we were clearing S. 29th Street, we were requested by Command at a structure fire in Falls Church. Unfortunetly we could not clear the street department in time to make the fire. Too much work, not enought time.

Photo of LA103 by James Fortner, taken during the 2001 FFI/II class.

New CVFD Firehall Picture

I came across this new picture of the fire station from the website of our neighbors, the Cherrydale Masonic Lodge. The picture appears to be from the 1970's. A detailed examination reveals that the bay floor had yet to be lowered. The ramp is level; today's ramp has a noticeable downward slope to allow for taller apparatus.

Welcome New Members

The Cherrydale VFD would like to welcome two new members:

Ben Sorenson
Jack Baber

Both have begun their six month probationary membership and will soon begin their initial 120-hour Indoctrination training, which will clear them to ride as Recruit Firefighters (red hats) on all County apparatus. Welcome, guys!

Light and Air 103 at the Pentagon

The Light and Air unit operated for over a week at the Pentagon after 9/11, providing scene lighting and operational support to the Urban Search and Rescue teams working at the scene.

The Cherrydale VFD helping out

The history of the Cherrydale VFD includes at least twice where we have stepped up to help a new fire departments begin. As the first fire department in Arlington County, we knew what it was like to start from the ground up and wanted to give to other departments just starting out. According to the histories of two local departments, the McLean Volunteer Fire Department (Fairfax County Station 401) and the Ritchie Volunteer Fire Department (Prince George's County Station 37) , the CVFD was able to step up when it mattered:

McLean VFD - McLean, VA - 1921
Department was organized and began serving the citizens of McLean. We started small. The first piece of equipment was borrowed from our neighbor, Cherrydale VFD. An old barn served as our station.

Bowie VFD - Bowie, MD - 1928
The first fire call for the new Bowie Volunteer Fire Department occurred at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 16, 1928. A chimney fire at the residence of Joseph Kline, Sr. was extinguished with chemical and salt. At the second meeting of the department Mr. W.L. Trott, Sr., was asked to serve as President and the department was on its way. Membership started to develop, a constitution and by-laws were developed and talks were under way for means of acquiring fire equipment and a station. It was determined at the first meetings that the department would not be connected with the town government or any other government agency. It was also determined that no tax monies would be solicited or used, but rather funds would be raised through volunteer contributions and fund raising events like dinners, plays, carnivals and other community functions. In just over two months the department acquired its first equipment. With a personal loan from Chief Joffe and through his business dealings with the Cherrydale, Virginia Volunteer Fire Department, two Ford Model "T" -chemical fire trucks were purchased for the total of $625.00. This equipment was placed in service immediately and housed in Mr. Kreitzer's Bowie Motor Company auto repair garage on 9th Street. Mr. Kreitzer furnished building keys to the officers of the department in order to have easy access when a fire call came in.

This is the hose cart that McLean borrowed from Cherrydale

Three members of the CVFD recently participated in the St. Patrick's Day 8k (5 mile) race this past Sunday morning in the District. Congratulations to Dee Allen who was our fastest
CVFDer followed by Joe Lowry. No big deal for Dee as she ran the Marine Corps Marathon last year. I also made it to the ending without the need for EMS (That would be the 8k not the marathon).

The CVFD will participate in more of these activities. Marine Corps. Marathon? Army 10 Miler? 9/11 Memorial 5k?

Well done.

Scott E. Pardi
Chief

Light and Air 103 respond...

Welcome to the blog of the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department. The CVFD is a small volunteer fire department whose members work closely with the member of the Arlington County Fire Department to provide seamless fire protection for the County and its residents. We are the only volunteer fire department in the county who still owns the station it responds from. The Cherrydale Firehouse has become the center point of our community, serving as a gathering point since 1918.

Our members provide supplemental staffing for Arlington Engines 103 and 108 as well as primary staffing for Light and Air 103, Utility 103, and Ambulance 102. We work closely with the other volunteer departments in the county to ensure that the long heritage of volunteer fire service in this county is uninterrupted.

On behalf of the CVFD, welcome to the blog.