2020 Year End Review
 
December 31, 2020
 

2020 was a busy year for us! It threw some real obstacles at us as first responders with the COVID-19 pandemic. Once "routine" calls became a little more complex with having to don more personal protective equipment, more frequent decontamination of the fire house and apparatus and limiting our hands on training as well as company meetings to prevent the spread.

In May, we had an unexpected loss of our most recent Ex-Chief William (Billy) Richardson Jr. Billy was a 53 year member. For 11 of those years he was Chief of Department. With the passing of Billy, it left a big hole in our Department.

In August, Tropical Storm Isaias tore threw the area with damaging winds and heavy rain. BIFD responded to total of 65 calls for the month ranging from wires down in the road, trees that had fallen on houses and carbon monoxide incidents from Generators running to close to houses.

During 2020, we answered 358 calls for the year. These calls varied from automatic fire alarms, ems calls, car accidents and both Tankers responding mutual aid to working fires. 143 of these calls where with Greenwich , which we run a duel response with. We also responded 7 times into Stamford, CT which we have a long standing mutual aid agreement with being geographically close to them.

Here are a few notable incidents from 2020:

March 19th - Tankers 7 and 17 with Engine 157 responded along with Greenwich to a well involved structure fire on Lower Cross Road. Both Tankers operated in a tanker shuttle, while Engine 157 assisted with a fill site.

July 24th - Once again, Tankers 7 and 17 along with Engine 157 responded Mutual Aid to Armonk for a structure on Old Mt Kisco Road. Banksville units along with neighboring departments operated for well over 3 hours assisting with extinguishment.

August 30th - Engine 158 was dispatched to backfill Port Chester Fire Headquarters while they battled a 5th alarm fire on North Main Street. While standing by, Engine 158 was requested into the scene and instructed to hit a hydrant a few blocks away on a different water gird to supply the elevated master stream of PCFD Ladder 31.

October 25th - BIFD was dispatched to the Mianus River Gorge for two lost hikers. The Gorge is a 935 acre nature preserve with over 5 miles of hiking trails that navigate through some difficult terrain. With sunset rapidly approaching, crews entered the woods where they located the lost hikers and safely escorted them back to the parking area.

December 7th - Engine 158 and Rescue 7 responded to Hickory Kingdom Road for a reported rollover down an embankment with extrication. Upon arrival, units found a single vehicle on its roof approximately 30 feet down an embankment. Luckily the sole occupant was able to self extricate prior to the FD arrival with minor injuries.

December 25th - With a strong storm cell rolling through knocking out power to the area, BIFD along with Tanker 9 from Armonk were dispatched to Hobby Farm Drive for a generator on fire in close proximity to a pool house. Upon arrival, units found a generator on fire approximately two feet from the structure. Due to Engine 158's quick response, the fire was knocked down and contained to the generator unit with no extension the the structure.