At 11:20 pm, Tuesday night, Upper Darby Police Officer and Drexel Hill Firefighter Montess Trapp was on routine patrol in the 3800-blk Marshall Rd, just around the corner from Station 20. Officer Trapp observed flames coming from the rear of a home and called in the working house fire. Upon further investigation, the officer heard a child crying from inside the house and took swift action to force the front door and remove the 4 year old girl, who was suffering from burns and severe smoke inhalation. Neighbors advised police they believed numerous other children were still trapped inside. Officers attempted to enter the home again, but were forced back out as the 1st floor was now fully involved. They were also able to remove a child from the attached exposure. Companies 20, 74 (Primos-Secane), Engine 36-2 (Cardington-Stonehurst), RIT-37 (Upper Darby), and numerous area medic units were dispatched for the house fire. Engine 20-1 (Capt. Donohue) arrived in moments to a 2 ½ story twin dwelling, with heavy fire blowing out of the first floor on all sides. 20-1's crew stretched one 1 ¾" handline and 20-3 (A/C B. Tully) arrived and immediately stretched a second 1 ¾" behind the first crew. Chief 20-9 (Hoban) arrived and established command. The first hose teams aggressively attacked the fire with 20-3 going to the rear and 20-1 through the front door. Engine 36-2 dropped a supply line on the way in and Tower 74 and Ladder 20 went to work throwing numerous ground ladders. Engine 74-2 dropped another line and stretched additional handlines into the "B" exposure, as fire was beginning to extend inside through the rear wall. As 20-1's crew made the 2nd floor, A/C Tully and Lieut. Rapp found an adult female victim in the front bedroom. Firefighters feverishly worked through the high heat and heavy smoke on the 2nd floor to remove the victim, while also continuing to knock the fire. After removing the victim, despite an outstanding effort, she was unfortunately pronounced dead. Companies continued to battle heavy fire conditions and extension until the job was finally placed under control after about one hour. Several special calls were made, including Company 26 (Highland Park) and Rescue/Air Bank 58 (Bon Air). Units remained on scene until around 2:30 am hitting hot spots and checking for further extension. All other searches were negative. Great work by all police, fire, and EMS on the scene and an extra atta boy to Officer Trapp for saving a young child. The fire is under investigation by the UDPD and Upper Darby Twp. Fire Marshal. Thank you to Engine 09-2 (Sharon Hill) and Tower 44 (Springfield) for covering Station 20 and assisting with getting us back in service.

Units on Scene: Engines 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, Ladder 20, Rescue 20, Engine 74-2, Tower 74, Engine 36-2, Squirt 36, Quint 37, Engine 26-1, Ladder 26, Rescue 26, Rescue 58, Medic 103, 103-7A, 103-7B, Medic 06-7 (Collingdale #1), Ambulance 24-7 (East Lansdowne), Ambulance 03-7 (Clifton Heights), 7th & 8th Dist. Fire Police, Upper Darby Police, and M-8 (Upper Darby Fire Marshal).

Pictures Courtesy of Brian Feeney Jr.

Check out the links below for additional pictures and audio!