Thirty-seven local fire departments and companies, and another 10 emergency medical services (EMS) units across western Montgomery, eastern Berks, and northern Chester counties won a combined total of $687,107 in grants Monday from the Office of the State Fire Commissioner, it announced, sanatogapost.com reported.

The money was part of about $31 million in grants distributed statewide by acting Fire Commissioner Thomas Cook to applicants for Pennsylvania’s annual Fire Company and Emergency Medical Service Grant Program, the report said.

The entire 41-page grant list is available online.

Steven Henshaw
Reading Eagle, Pa.
(TNS)

Feb. 7—A Douglassville man led police on a high-speed chase through parts of three municipalities, and one covered bridge, after hitting an Oley Fire Company truck and the fire chief’s personal vehicle Monday evening in plain sight of a police officer, police said.

The events began when the fire company and an ambulance crew responded to Oysterdale Road and Route 73 in Oley Township shortly before 6 p.m. for a report of a person asleep or suffering from a medical issue behind the wheel of an SUV.

Responders arrived to find a man later identified as Michael V. Konchan, 27, passed out in the driver’s seat of the SUV with the motor running, investigators said.

Central Berks Regional police provided the following account:

When an emergency medical technician reached into the vehicle to turn off the ignition, Konchan woke up and grabbed the man’s forearm.

Konchan then shifted the transmission to drive.

Police Officer Joshua Steingraber pulled up to witness what happened next. With numerous emergency personnel around the SUV, it began to move with the medic partially inside the vehicle.

The SUV struck a parked firetruck occupied by firefighters, and Oley Township Fire Chief Michael Kline’s unoccupied personal vehicle.

The medic was eventually able to pull away and move clear of the SUV.

Konchan proceeded east onto Covered Bridge Road at a high speed, continuing into Earl Township and finally into Amity Township, illegally passing other vehicles and running stop signs along the way.

The chase lasted about 11 miles with Konchan driving at speeds reaching about 90 mph. It ended when Konchan pulled into the Amity Township Fire Company parking lot on Pine Forge Road and he was taken into custody without incident.

Konchan told officers that he didn’t remember when the incident started and got scared when he realized police were chasing him. He admitted using fentanyl and cocaine about a half-hour before the incident.

Police found several packets of suspected fentanyl in his wallet.

Konchan of the first block of Mimosa Circle was taken to Reading Hospital for unspecified treatment before being taken to the central processing center.

He remained free to await a hearing following arraignment before District Judge Steven M. Chieffo in Reading Central Court.

Konchan faces charges of aggravated assault, fleeing and eluding an officer, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, hit-and-run and drug possession, along with numerous summary traffic offenses.

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The city of Newcastle’s new fire station will be located off Highway 62 near Southeast 5th, just down the street from the animal hospital, news9.com reported.

This will replace the current fire station near the police department and elementary school, the report said.

The new station will feature individual sleeping quarters for up to 10 personnel, four apparatus bays for equipment, and a training classroom that will accommodate up to 25 students, the report said.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department has replaced a previously used firefighting foam with a new safer foam in an effort to improve the health of our firefighters, community and environment, the department said in a news release Monday.

In 2018, Washington State passed the Firefighting Agents and Equipment Law that prohibited the use of class B AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam), a type of firefighting foam that contains PFASs (poly or per-fluorinated alkyl substances) for training purposes by fire departments.

The previous class B firefighting foam contained harmful nonstick chemicals or “PFASs” which have been linked to contaminated water supplies across the country.

While the previous foam was still allowed by the state to be used in emergency response calls involving flammable liquids, the Spokane Valley Fire Department made the decision to replace all our class B foam with the new safer firefighting foam without PFASs.

“This was the right decision, to remove the harmful foam for the safety of our firefighters, our citizens and our environment,” Spokane Valley Fire Chief Frank Soto Jr. said.