Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
BERWYN FIRE CO. OPENS NEW EMS SUBSTATION
Berwyn Fire Company has opened a new substation in the eastern portion of their district in Tredyffrin, which will cut response time in half.
Their main station is on Bridge Street, just off Lancaster Avenue, in Berwyn village.
The facility at the Neuman Professional Building, at the corner of West Valley and Swedesford roads will allow for a good balancing of resources during responses between Tredyffrin and Easttown, according to Berwyn Fire Chief Eamon Brazunas.
On Thursday, firefighters gave a tour to local government officials. The facility includes a tented, secured and enclosed heated two truck bay for a pumper and an ambulance, as well as offices in the professional building which include a bunk room, a lounge and storage area.
For the past six months, Berwyn has had an emergency medical services substation located at the Old Forge Crossing Condominiums in Devon that was operational from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a career crew. The new facility, station 102, will be available around the clock and will include a fire truck.
“Our facility at Old Forge Crossing helped us in that area and we started looking for a permanent place,” said Brazunas. “That, and our use of a a temporary facility at PECO when the bridge was out over the tracks in Berwyn was a good test period.”
In 2009, Berwyn Fire Company working with County emergency management officials performed an analysis to identify the optimal locations to place resources to improve response times based on several important factors in their district. The site at Neuman was one of the top three sites at that time.
“With this substation, response times will be cut in half, if not better, for the Old Forge residents and for the northern portion of Tredyffrin Township,” said Michael Baskin, emergency medical service captain of Ber
wyn Fire Company Ambulance. “Prior to the substation, it would take our ambulance much longer to respond from our station on Bridge Avenue in Easttown Township.”
Brazunas said a conversation with his chiropractor led him to Dr.Neal Neuman, a dentist who owns the building with his family. Neuman was excited to help the community and offered to lease offices and peace in the parking lot.
“He didn’t have to do this, “Brazunas said. “He has deep roots in the community and wanted to help.”
Brazunas pointed out that when Chesterbrook was developed it originally called for a fire station and development in the area has grown since then. The new facility has quick access to Route 202. Valley Road allows them to go quickly across town to the east.
“It’s a no-brainer, we’ll handling calls quicker,” Brazunas said. “In the past it would take 6-8 minutes to get to this area, now we’re getting here in three minutes.”
Brazunas said a number of their volunteers reside in that area of the township, they will now be able to report directly to the substation for calls.
Berwyn Fire Company covers more than half of Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships. Paoli and Radnor cover the remaining areas. Berwyn responded 1,102 fires and 2,363 medical emergencies in 2019, they expect the new station will have a call volume of 500 in the first year of operation.
Brazunas estimated the cost of the substation at $50,000 with Tredyffrin Township helping with the lease. The Fire Company secured a $15,000 grant from the Pennsylvania State Fire Commissioners Fire & Ambulance program as well as $5,005 from the Wayne Glen homeowners association, part of a new development at Old Eagle School road and Swedesford road.
Equipment housed in the substation has been redeployed from the main station on Bridge Street.
While the new substation is not permanent, Brazen said firefighters look at it as a transition, from Old Forge on a path to getting a full facility in the long term.
“We’re pretty pumped up about it,” Brazunas said.
“This is serving the community, improving coverage for out families and our residents.”
The substation will be staffed with an advanced life support-equipped ambulance during weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“This time period is a heavy call volume for us, and, will greatly improve response times for the community,” said said Michael Baskin, emergency medical service captain of Berwyn Fire Company Ambulance. He further added the ambulance will also be equipped with an auto extrication tool, self-contained breathing apparatus, and a light complement of other fire rescue equipment.