Today at 1309, RIT 8 was dispatched to the 400blk. of Strath Haven ave. in Swarthmore. RIT 8 was supporting companies 14, 13, 44 and 65 while they operated on the building fire. Crews had an electrical fire inside the home. RIT 8 responded quickly with the TAC, Engine and Utility and set up our RIT cache, 360 size up, saw run and teams. Crews stood by at the ready for about 20min before being released.

Today companies 1, 5, and 8 met up at finish-line once again for another hands on, high tempo drill. The crew started at 0900 with two full scenarios with company 8 taking the Engine roll. TAC stretched and advanced 1 3/4 for fire attack on both while companies 1 and 5 took the truck roll. After those two full scenarios were complete the crew broke up into smaller groups and worked on horizontal ventilation and roof ventilation for the remainder of the day. The team finished up at 1300.

This Saturday a crew went back to the acquired structure at Finish Line and continued to take advantage of the many features of the building. First the crew focused on wall breaches and fire fighter survival. After that the crew went to the roof and went over roof ventilation. The crew took full advantage of the opportunity to operate on a real roof and face all of the obstacles that come along with it. Of course one of our new favorite tools was front ad center in this drill, The PIG! The crew was in service for 3 hours and took in an accident with injuries as they were cleaning up. As always a good time was had by all!

Tonight the crew gather at finish line once again with companies 1 and 5. RIT was the topic for us with firefighter survival being focused on by Glenolden and Folcroft. (wall beach etc.). RIT 8's crew worked on 4 main RIT tactics, the Denver drill, window cut downs, FF stuck in the floor and harness conversions.

Tonight the crew gathered for another special drill at finish line. Companies 1, 5 and 8 worked together on roof ops. Tool selection, ladder selection and saw selection were gone over before cutting. Once this was complete the team moved on to hands on roof cutting via saws and hand tools. The crew worked hard till 2200.

Tonight at 2305, RIT 8 was dispatched with the box(companies 13, 14, and 44) to the 200blk. of Walnut St. in Morton for the building fire. The call was quickly upgraded to a working fire and 13-9A arrived with smoke showing from the attic. RIT 8 arrived very quickly first with the TAC then the Engine and immediately began our 360 size up, establish our equipment cache, saw run, and tossed 7 ladders. The attack crew made a good aggressive interior hit and made short work of the fire. RIT 8's crew stood by for less about an hour without event and returned. Great job by all units on scene.

Tonight the crew headed over to the acquired structure at Finish Line. The team on Engine and TAC 8 met up with the crew from Glenolden and Folcroft for another night of training. The crews worked on there forcible entry skills, ladders, metal cutting and roof ops.

At just after midnight tonight the Company along with Station 07 and EMS 48-7 were dispatched to the area of 2nd and Lincoln avenu for the accident with reported injuries.EMS arrived to a one car MVA and were reporting a possible refusal. Engine 8 arrived and chocked the vehicle and pulled fire protection before securing the small amount of debris and fluids. The assignment was held to the Engine awaiting the arrival of the tow.

Tonight the crew headed out with the TAC and Engine 8 for some spontaneous drilling. The crew worked on Engine company operations for a few hours just because~!

This afternoon at 1630, the crew was dispatched to 16th and Lincoln for an MVA with i juries. Engine 8 arrived on location to find a 2 vehicle MVA with EMS crews treating the patient. Engine 8's crew, chocked the wheels, secured the battery, spread oil dry , swept debris, pulled fire protection.

Tonight Engine 8 with 8 headed over to Finish Line Collision for a night of hands on training in the acquired structure. The crews from Glenolden and Folcroft joined the team from Prospect for some Forcible entry, Engine ops and Search. The crew took some doors, ran lines both charged and uncharged, and conducted search ops. The crews also had a good chance to run through some basic radio ops and ICS. A great night of training with more on the way. Special thanks to Glenolden Deputy Jason Wilhelm for facilitating this opportunity!

Monday, April 22, 2013 - Tonight, FF Zappacosta, CAP Huber and Chief Signora ventured up to Montco Station 6 for an on the road Forcible Entry class. The Prospect and Flourtown crew worked from 1900 till 2200 on conventional forcible entry techniques. It was a great night of training with a great group of people. Thank you Flourtown Fire Company for allowing us to come up there and teach! Special thanks go out to Flourtown Captain Chris Manning for facilitating this great opportunity and nights training! Also tonight just before we got started, the crew took in a brush fire with the crew from station 6. The crews arrived to find a smoldering fire in the rear of the residence and completed extinguishment via garden hose and hooks. The combined team from Engine 6 and Utility 8 made short work of the stubborn little blaze and quickly returned.

This morning the crew headed down to Eddystone with the TAC and Engine for a special county task force disaster drill. RIT 8 was in service for the drill at Penn Terminals and provided the RIT services for the entire evolution. The team was deployed on two fire scenarios and assisted as manpower on one rescue scenario.

Today for AP drill, the crew headed out and did some district familiarization. The crew also worked on equipment maintenance and straightened up the apparatus while making themselves familiar with the equipment, its location and use.

Tonight the crew headed out and conducted a ladder drill. The team worked on Ladder rescues, utilizing different carry techniques and even ropes to simulate removal of a trapped person from a structure fire. The crew rotated around between the guys, each taking a turn as the victim and the rescuer. It was another great night of training and as always here at station 8, A good time was had by all~!