Pa. chief’s daring move has fire community buzzing

By Jamie Thompson
FireRescue1 News Editor

There are moments when desperate times call for desperate measures — such as moving an aerial truck while firefighters are still aloft in the bucket.

The unconventional maneuver took place last Wednesday in Swatara Twp, Pa., when Steelton Fire Department firefighters were called to a huge blaze at a bowling alley.

Fire Lt. Milton Carnes and firefighter J.R. Miller were above the building in the aerial bucket when fire broke through the roof and raced toward them.

Steelton Fire Chief Gene Vance acted quickly by driving the aerial truck about 50 feet, with Carnes and Miller still in the bucket and the boom extended.

Senior fire personnel from across the country have given their views on the maneuver.

“I don’t want to ever have to do it again,” Vance told FireRescue1. “It’s not something you get in the training manuals.”

Carnes and Miller were sent toward the roof of the bowling alley to try to open it up a little, said Vance.

But just minutes later, fire broke through the roof on the far side of the building and headed toward the pair.

‘Like a tornado’
“The fire came out and met them,” said Vance. “You could hear it coming, you didn’t need to see it.

“It was like a tornado coming at you. I’ve been in the fire service over 30 years and have never seen a fire progress that fast.”

Vance said the smoke was so thick, personnel on the ground could not even see the pair in the aerial bucket.

With the situation deteriorating rapidly, he got in the truck and backed it out by about 50 feet.

His unconventional actions have set the fire community buzzing.

Vance said he has received calls over the past few days from instructors and chiefs across he country, wanting to know more.

“I wasn’t worried about damaging the apparatus,” Vance said. “Their lives are way more important than a truck. You can always replace a fire truck, but you can’t replace men.”