On the evening of Thursday, November 16, a multi-alarm fire struck the Barclay Friends Senior Living community in West Chester.

As part of the mass casualty response, EMS units from all over Chester, Montgomery, Delaware, and New Castle Counties responded to assist the home agency, Good Fellowship EMS of West Chester.

Ambulance 189-2 was already in West Chester, clearing an earlier incident in the Honey Brook area that took them to Chester County Hospital. They were then directed by the Chester County Fire Radio to respond in to the scene to assist.

Ambulance 189-2 transported one patient from the fire scene to CCH.

As additional units were requested, Ambulance 89-1 made the response from the Elverson station. Ambulances 89-1 and 189-2 then were ordered to stage at Good Fellowship's station, as patients were being transported there to be examined in a warm building as opposed to being outside in the wind and cold. From there, it was determined if a patient would need transported to a hospital or to one of several other local facilities that were opened up as shelters for the residents.

Later, Ambulances 189-2 and 89-1 transported one patient each from Good Fellowship to the Pembrooke Health & Rehabilitation Center in West Chester to be sheltered there.

Both ambulances returned to our first due area at around 5AM the next morning.

While Ambulances 89-1 and 189-2 were in West Chester, additional staffing reported to both the Elverson and Honey Brook stations to staff Ambulances 89-2 and 89-3 to cover our first due area.