The popular saying “right place, right time” proved true this past weekend for personnel from Tobyhanna Army Depot’s Fire Department (FD).
When the four-person team aboard Truck 47 left the installation on Sunday morning, they had plans for a quiet day focused on personnel development. But, instead, the team sprang into action and helped a community resident quench a house fire.
Depot FD personnel were off-post doing routine geographical familiarization training when county dispatchers reported a structural fire in downtown Moscow. Truck 47’s staff quickly realized they were in close proximity to the incident and offered their assistance.
“This call did not originate at the request of the county; rather, the Tobyhanna team volunteered to help, being that they were so near and knowing the possible danger if the fire was not extinguished quickly,” said Albert Gilgallon, Chief of the depot’s Fire and Emergency Services Branch.
Tobyhanna’s Truck 47 was the first on the scene. FD personnel entered the home immediately and aided the resident in extinguishing a chimney fire. Shortly after, additional emergency personnel arrived from Moscow Borough, Covington Township, Roaring Brook Township, and Madisonville. The cross-organizational team worked together to prevent any further damage to the home, according to a published report by the Moscow Fire & Hose Company. Chief Shawn Young offered kudos to the Tobyhanna team for their assistance.
“We are always happy to work with other departments. The Tobyhanna group is very professional,” he said.
William Start, Tobyhanna’s Risk Management Division Chief, applauded the depot personnel for their community-focused support.
“I’m extremely proud that our firefighters Jeremy Kuzmiak, Eric Reddinger, William MacCallum and Jack McLaughlin stepped up to the plate when duty called.” Assistant Fire Chief Palmer Johnson agreed.
“Our entire team is extremely dedicated and is willing to collectively support any circumstance that may arise on or off-post,” he said.
Tobyhanna has mutual aid agreements with thirteen agencies across Northeastern Pennsylvania. The agreements are beneficial to both parties, according to Johnson.
“Our mutual aid agreements ensure that Tobyhanna’s force can be supplemented in times of need and also that we can share our expertise with the community when they need our help.”
Depot officials say the FD responded to 76 mutual aid calls in 2020, including structural fires, vehicle fires and motor vehicle accidents. The mutual aid agreements are directly aligned with Tobyhanna’s long range strategic plan, Toby 2028 – specifically the line of effort devoted to connecting with the local community.
In addition to Sunday’s fire assistance in Moscow, FD personnel also provided support to a medical emergency in Coolbaugh Township Friday night. Johnson says Tobyhanna personnel are always ready to assist the region when it needs them.
“The Tobyhanna FD is committed to providing superior support to the depot population as well as the communities surrounding the installation. We’re proud of what we do.”
Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C5ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.
Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our joint warfighters.
About 4,000 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to empower the Soldier with winning C5ISR capabilities.
Social Sharing