Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The second floor fire was brought under control quickly. The homeowners were a month away from closing on the home
The homeowners of 100 Cheswick Drive in Montgomery Township — who have lived there for about nine years and just entered into a contract to sell their home — didn't know what was going on Tuesday morning. "We heard the alarm and there was smoke in the house," said Landa Propato. Preliminary investigation showed the small fire was on the second floor laundry area of the home. Montgomery Township Fire Marshal Rick Lesniak told Michael Goldberg of The Reporter that the couple awoke to a fire alarm at 10:30 a.m. and saw smoke coming from behind the washer and dryer. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The fire was under control by 11:15 a.m. Firefighters arriving at the scene reported seeing "light smoke" coming from the second floor…
Monday, January 14, 2013
Northbound lanes, Upper State Road affected by cleanup; tractor-trailer said to be "t-boned" by pickup truck
- POLICE & FIRE
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Monday, January 14
An indeterminate amount of diesel fuel had leaked into a Montgomery storm drain on Monday afternoon following a collision between a tractor-trailer and a pickup truck at the intersection of Bethlehem Pike and Upper State Road. Personnel from the Montgomery Township Public Works department and the Fire Department of Montgomery Township had attempted to soak up some of the fuel spill with sand and could be seen accessing the sewer through a manhole. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Mike Wells of Lubbock, Tx., said he had been proceeding northbound on Route 309 at about 35-40 miles per hour when he was struck on the right side by a black Toyota Tundra pickup truck headed south on Upper State Road. "I had the green light," Wells said. "He 't…
Friday, November 9, 2012
PECO reports downed wire as the cause. Repairs will be done in next coupe of hours. Several traffic lights reported to be out of service.
9:30 p.m. Update PECO is reporting power is restored as of 8:45 p.m. The downed wire was in the area of Route 202 and Route 309. Readers reported outages as far as Route 152 and Route 202 in Chalfont, and to past Hatfield Ice on County Line Road in Colmar. There were also outages reported in Montgomery Commons Shopping Center at North Wales Road and Welsh Road in Montgomery Township. 7:41 p.m. Update PECO representative Liz Williamson said a downed wire is the cause of the outage. A location has not be specified. Repairs should be done "within the next couple of hours." Outages are reported in Chalfont Borough and in areas of Hatfield Township. Last updated 7:20 p.m. Patch is monitoring reports of numerous power outages in the North Penn …
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Kris Kringle arrived early to the North Penn area Friday night with his annual tenure at Montgomery Mall
Montgomery Mall's reindeer roof parking is filled up for the next 51 days. Santa Claus has come to town. Kris Kringle brought his cherry nose and twinkling eyes to the North Penn area Friday night, with an arrival and traditional grand entrance to the mall via Fire Department of Montgomery Township. Check out The Reporter's Brian Bingaman's story of Santa's 2012 arrival here. Last year, Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch got an exclusive interview with St. Nick — read all about it and watch a video at this link. Happy Thanksgiving — and Merry Christmas! Subscribe to our free daily newsletter | Follow us on Facebook | Follow us @LansdalePatch|Subscribe to our YouTube page
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
The woman was trapped in her car for two hours while Fire Department of Montgomery Township and PECO worked to safely free her car from the tangled wires
A woman drove around a barricade on Knapp Road in Montgomery Township Tuesday afternoon, hit a utility pole damaged by Hurricane Sandy, and got her vehicle tangled in down power lines. The incident called for the Fire Department of Montgomery Township, Fairmount Fire Co., Volunteer Medical Service Corps of Lansdale and Montgomery Township Police to respond to the scene for over two hours, according to Dan Sokil of The Reporter. According to the article, a PECO work crew arrived to de-energize, secure and remove the power lines. Around 5:15 p.m., the driver drove her Kia westbound on Knapp Road through a barricade at Lexington Road, and then her car became entangled in power lines, according to the article. Read more about the article — and…
Saturday, October 27, 2012
FDMT wants to replace a 20-plus-year-old engine, while the police wants to replace three patrol vehicles
Montgomery Township Police and Fire Department of Montgomery Township presented requests for the 2013 budget to township supervisors Wednesday at the third budget workshop meeting. According to Dan Sokil of The Reporter, both departments want to increase their fleets with new service vehicles — FDMT with a new engine and the police with three patrol cars. Director of Fire Services Rick Lesniak requested a replacement for its 1989 Hahn fire engine, which at present will cost an estimated $33,000 to repair its engine, transmission, electrical system and pumping system, according to the article. All in all, Lesniak is requesting $450,000 for a capital replacement expensesin 2013, according to the article. Police Chief Scott Bendig requested …
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Two victims were transported to Lansdale Hospital and a third to Abington Memorial Hospital following the Wednesday morning crash at Horsham Road/Route 463 and Upper State Road in Montgomery Township
Three people were injured and one was rescued following a Wednesday morning three-vehicle crash at Horsham and Upper State roads. Police said the accident occurred at 8:18 a.m. A vehicle was turning left from Horsham Road/Route 463 westbound onto southbound Upper State Road, when it was impacted by two vehicles, according to Lt. Gerry Dougherty of Montgomery Township Police. One person was trapped in a vehicle, police said. Two victims were transported to Lansdale Hospital for treatment, and the third was transported to Abington Memorial Hospital, police said. Both had non-life-threatening injuries, according to 6abc.com reports. Montgomeryville Patch readers reported that a minivan had pinned another vehicle to a telephone pole at the …
Friday, September 28, 2012
A busted waterway pipe on Ladder 18 needs to be replaced versus rewelded and repaired, per request of Director of Fire Services Rick Lesniak
Ever since a mutual aid fire call in Horsham on July 25, 2012, Fire Department of Montgomery Township's Ladder 18 has had to take a break from its extinguishing part of its purpose and be used for its ladder and equipment. On that day, during the fire, pressure built up in the lower portion of the waterway, causing the flange to split from the pipe. The waterway, according to Director of Fire Services Rick Lesniak, is attached to the ladder portion of Ladder 18 and allows water to be sprayed to a height of 95 feet. "We can't use (Ladder 18) to extinguish fires or prevent the spread of fire from elevated positions," Lesniak told Montgomery Township Supervisors Monday night. Out of five companies, Bergey's Fire Equipment in Souderton was …
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Director of Fire Services Rick Lesniak and Fire Department of Montgomery Township Chief Bill Wiegman told Montgomery Township Supervisors Monday that it will soon be time to replace a 23-year-old fire engine
Fire Department of Montgomery Township informed Montgomery Township Supervisors Monday night that it needs to plan now for the replacement of two fire engines and other fire equipment. According to Dan Sokil of The Reporter, township Director of Fire Services Rick Lesniak and FDMT Chief Bill Wiegman presented an assessment by VFIS Education, Training and Consulting that looked at a long-term apparatus replacement plan. The assessment also analyzed maintenance records for FDMT’s five vehicles, which are co-owned by Montgomery Township, according to the article. Engine 18-1 was built in 1989, according to the article, and has been with FDMT since its inception in 2002. This engine is at the top of the long-term replacement list, but it is …
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Director of Fire Services Rick Lesniak said the fire marshal's office is awaiting word from the insurance companies to release findings on possible causes from a house fire in January and a second in February
Sometimes, fire officials don't find the cause of house and business fires, such as the case with Lans-Bowl in Lansdale. That isn't the case yet with two house fires from the early part of 2012 whose causes have yet to be determined: one that occurred January 9 and a second that occurred exactly a month later. Montgomery Township Director of Fire Services Rick Lesniak told Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch Monday night that the fire marshal's office investigation is complete, but is awaiting word from the insurance companies. On Jan. 9, fire destroyed a home at 119 Bellows Way. It was the home of the Harris family. Joanne Harris is chair of the art department at North Penn High School. The community responded by organizing a relief fund and a…
Tony Di Domizio
8:30 pm on Monday, January 14, 2013
DEP said fuel did not reach local waterways; it was captured in a retention basin more ›