Just prior to Midnight on Sunday March 9th, the Volunteers from Station 21 were alerted to assist Zelienople (Station 22) with a reported structure fire at 50 Halstead Blvd. in Zelienople Borough. Chief 22 arrived on-scene to find a working fire on the roof of a large commercial warehouse. Units from Harmony (Station 23), Evans City (Station 20), Big Knob (Beaver Co. Station 26) and Harmony EMS (Station 62) were also alerted on the initial alarm. Chief 22 requested a second alarm, bringing crews from Ellwood City (Truck 4), Portersville (Station 24) and Franklin Township (Beaver Co. Station 70).

Crews from Station 21 responded with Tower 21 and Engine 21-3 on the initial alarm for fire suppression. Additional crews from Station 21 were requested to respond as a Rapid Intervention Team (RIT), bringing Rescue 21 and Squad 21 to the scene. Chief 21 requested that Marshall Township (Allegheny Co. Station 185) respond as well to assist with RIT. Adams Area (Station 42) transferred Ladder 42 to Station 21-2 for standby while 21 units were committed to the fire. Crews remained on scene most of the night, returning into service around 8:00AM Monday morning.

21 year old Brad Holmes, a Firefighter with the Pine Township Engine Company, Mercer County, has died in the line of duty. On Friday, February 29, 2008, at a structural fire in Grove City Borough, Firefighter Holmes and Lieutenant Scott King were attempting to rescue a 44 year old female resident from the second floor of a burning duplex, when conditions in the building rapidly deteriorated and the firefighters became trapped on the second floor. Both firefighters were rescued by the rapid intervention team. Lt. King has since been released from the hospital, but Firefighter Holmes remained in critical condition for several days in the burn unit of Mercy Hospital, before he succumbed to his injuries. Firefighter Holmes is the brother of Pine Township Fire Chief Chris Holmes and son of their Assistant Chief Joe Holmes. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and our brother firefighters from the Pine Township Engine Company. The Pine Township Engine Company's website is http://fire.pinetownship.org/

A band of winter weather passed through Cranberry Township and with it came several calls. Early in the afternoon Stations 21 and 51 (Cranberry EMS) were alerted for a vehicle rollover with injuries on Intersate 79. EMS arrived to find one patient injured and began to provide care. Rescue 21 arrived and secured the scene, while Engine 21-2 provied traffic control.

As the evening rush hour began, the calls increased, starting with a call for smoke and the smell of burning in the Verizon Wireless store on Route 19. Tower 21 and Engine 21-3 responded along with mutual aid from Station 42 (Adams Area) and 185 (Marshall Township) Crews located an electrical outlet on the roof which had shorted out and was smoking and cut the power.

Minutes after receiving the call for Verizon WIreless, Stations 21 and 51 were also alerted for a vehicle accident on I 79 Southbound near the rest area. Engine 21-2 responded to find a vehicle which had slid off the roadway, and cleared after approximately 20 minutes.

Shortly after Engine 21-2 cleared the scene on I-79 and while crews were still wrapping up at Verizon Wireless, Station 21 and 51 were again dispatched to a 2 vehicle accident at the corner of Peters Road and Gable with injuries . Upon arrival Engine 21-2 crews found a Mini Van that had T-boned a Chevy Cavalier that apparently slid on the icy roads. The driver of the Cavalier was reportly unconscious at one point, the driver was able to be extracted from the drivers door. E21-2 crews assisted EMS with patient packaging. Cranberry Fire Police (FP21-LT and FP4) provided traffic control on this busy stretch of road. Fire Crews Cleared the Scene in about 45 minutes.

Responding Units: E21-2, Rescue 21, Squad 21, IC1 (Clutter) and Fire Police

Command: Rescue Officer 21 (Dancisin)/Captain 21 (Clutter)

As Cranberry Township and our surrounding areas continue to grow, the calls for assistance placed on our volunteers grow proportionately. This past year was no exception. Over 100 volunteers put countless hours of time into serving their community through this organization in many different ways.

The brigade answered 623 calls for assistance, the busiest year in CTVFC history. CTVFC responded to its 600th call on December 10th, making 2007 the first year with over 600 calls as well. The dedicated volunteers gave over 473 hours on the scene of these incidents, with an average of 45 minutes on each call. They also logged 5,987 hours of training, something necessary to help them prepare for the many different types of calls that are responded to.

Our annual election of officers was held in November to select some of the Company and Brigade officers for 2008. These included: