Fire Apparatus Magazine: Case Study: Mt. Lebanon (PA) Fire Department Implements Motion Tablet PCs

A major functional area for Mt. Lebanon Fire Department is its Fire Prevention & Life Safety Education division, which includes inspections and reinspections of all occupancies in the town, such as residential dwellings, businesses, restaurants, churches, schools and nursing facilities.

During inspections, firefighters were required to fill out paper forms and inspection checklists as well as take notes by hand. Once back at the stations, administrative assistants would input the information into a database via FIREHOUSE Software’s Occupancy, Permits and Inspections module; and type up violation reports, which were printed out for the firefighters’ review and approval before being mailed to the business owner. If errors were found during the review process, the administrative assistant would correct the report and resubmit it for the firefighter’s review. If a firefighter went off duty, it meant additional delays to the review process.

Read the full article:

• www.fireapparatusmagazine.com/articles/2012/09/mt-lebanon-pa-fire-department-implements-motion-tablet-pcs.html (Fire Apparatus Magazine)

The Almanac: To the rescue: Responders display skills

Members of the South Hills Area Council of Government's (SHACOG) Technical Rescue Team (TRT) demonstrated some of their specialized skills during the first Rescue Day held recently in the parking lot of the Castle Shannon Volunteer Fire Department.

Started in 2008, the TRT is a team of about 36 members from South Hills-area emergency responders including fire and EMS personnel who are specially trained for specific types of emergencies. The types of emergencies that the TRT may respond to include rope and high-angle rescue, trench rescue, confined space rescue, structural collapses, bariatric patient extrication, machinery and industrial rescue and water rescue.

Read the full article:

• www.thealmanac.net/alm/story11/08-22-2012-rescue-day-w-pics (The Almanac)

The Almanac: Mt. Lebanon expands Citizens' Fire Academy

Mt. Lebanon is expanding its popular Citizens' Fire Academy (CFA) to include the Castle Shannon and Dormont fire departments, their two closest mutual aid providers.

The Mt. Lebanon Fire Department has conducted the CFA for the past seven years, but this year the three fire departments have teamed up for this nine-week public education program.

Read the full article:

• www.thealmanac.net/alm/story11/08-15-2012-ML-fire-academy (The Almanac)

The Almanac: Openings available in Citizens Fire Academy

The Citizens Fire Academy (CFA) is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be behind the hoses and inside the gear of a firefighter, to learn fire safety and to feel the heat of intense challenges.

This year's CFA will be a 10-week free course, lead by the Mt. Lebanon, Castle Shannon and Dormont fire departments, Sept. 5 through Nov. 3. Students will have the opportunity to tour facilities, use fire extinguishers, go on ride-alongs, use the Jaws of Life in a mock vehicle extrication and be trained in first-aid, CPR and the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

Read the full article:

• www.thealmanac.net/alm/story11/08-08-2012-news-briefs (The Almanac)

The Almanac: Safety takes center stage at Mt. Lebanon camp

Safety was the name of the game at the recent Mt. Lebanon Public Safety Camp. The camp, geared toward kids age 9 to 12, was a collaborative effort with the Mt. Lebanon Fire Department, the Mt. Lebanon Police Department and Medical Rescue Team South Authority (MRTSA).

This year marked the first year for the public safety camp which was held July 30 to Aug. 3 at Mt. Lebanon's main park off of Cedar Boulevard.

Read the full article:

• www.thealmanac.net/alm/story11/08-08-2012-ML-safety-camp (The Almanac)

Trib: Stonemason’s legacy etched on communities, lives

As a craftsman and master stonemason, John Petrelli left his mark in the churches, schools, parks, homes and cemeteries of numerous South Hills neighborhoods.

In his hometown of Mt. Lebanon, Mr. Petrelli’s construction of the masonry walls of the library were considered a testimonial to his skills.

John J. Petrelli of Mt. Lebanon, former owner of A. Petrelli & Sons in Scott, died on Sunday, July 22, 2012, in St. Clair Hospital. He was 87.

Read the full article:

• www.triblive.com/news/2270915-74/petrelli-lebanon-daughter-john-donna-american-bethel-clair-college-considered (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Patch: Do You Have What It Takes?

What started as a Mt. Lebanon initiative could now benefit Dormont.

The Citizens Fire Academy will be held at the Mt. Lebanon Public Safety Center this fall, and this year, Mt. Lebanon has asked the fire departments of Dormont and Castle Shannon to join in.

“We’re all excited about it,” said Dormont VFD Deputy Chief Jeff Arnold. “Right now our membership is down and we’re trying to come up with a way to get people’s interest up. This is a good way to do it.”

Read the full article:

• dormont-brookline.patch.com/articles/do-you-have-what-it-takes (Dormont-Brookline Patch)

WTAE: Churchgoers Rescue Woman From Fire In Mount Lebanon

A group of people heading to church helped rescue a woman from a fire in Mount Lebanon on Sunday morning.

Fire officials said the group of people saw the flames before seeing a woman in an upstairs window of a home along Broadmoor Avenue.

Susan DeMasters was out for a morning run when she saw the fire and called 911.

Read the full article:

• www.wtae.com/news/30897063/detail.html (WTAE)

P-G: 3 hospitalized from smoke in Mt. Lebanon fire

Three people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation after a mattress caught fire at a Mt. Lebanon apartment complex early today.

Platoon Chief Glenn Wallace said firefighters were called to 53 Academy Ave. by a woman who thought she smelled smoke about 2 a.m. Firefighters traced the smoke to a first-floor apartment with an unlocked door and found four people inside. Three of the occupants had to be awakened and needed assistance getting out of the apartment while a fourth made it out without help, he said.

Read the full article:

• www.postgazette.com/pg/12038/1208657-100.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Additional article (with video):

• www.wtae.com/news/30396336/detail.html (WTAE)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon Fire Department has bracelets to help locate missing people

Mt. Lebanon Fire Department is accepting applications for a set of cellular-based tracking bracelets that help locate missing people almost anywhere in the country.

The $200 device made by Texas-based EmFinders is designed for people with Alzheimer's, dementia, autism and other conditions that can cause them to wander and make communicating their whereabouts difficult.

To gauge interest, the municipality has purchased 10 devices to start through a donation from the Mt. Lebanon Partnership.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/12012/1202926-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

KDKA: Volunteers Come Together To Build ‘Sierra’s Room’

The Fagan family’s yard in Mount Lebanon is filled with builders.

Dave Fagan, a volunteer fire fighter, is joined by dozens of colleagues, fellow church members, and people he’d never met before.

They’ve come to build an addition – a room for Dave and Jennifer Fagan’s little daughter, Sierra. Weighing just 37 pounds, she’s a 9-year-old with special needs.


Read the full article (with video):

• pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/12/14/volunteers-come-together-to-build-sierras-room (KDKA)

P-G: Two hurt in fire in Mt. Lebanon

Two people were injured in a fire that broke out late Saturday at an apartment/condominium complex in Mt. Lebanon. Officials believe the blaze was started by a cigarette.

Mt. Lebanon Deputy Fire Chief Chris Buttlar said a dozen people were displaced by the fire that started at about 11:30 p.m. at the Baywood Terrace complex.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11345/1196231-100.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Early morning fire damages Mt. Lebanon home

An early morning, one-alarm fire in Mt. Lebanon caused an estimated $60,000 damage to an unoccupied home at 361 Avon Drive.

Mt. Lebanon Fire Chief Nick Sohyda said the fire was reported at 5:30 a.m. at a home that is under renovation and had no contents in it. The family that owns the home was in Florida at the time of the blaze.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11323/1191227-100.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Trib: Water main break closes Mt. Lebanon's Beadling Road

Beadling Road between Cedar Boulevard and Seneca Drive in Mt. Lebanon will be closed most of today because of a water main break, municipal officials announced.

Kevin Maehling, deputy chief of the Mt. Lebanon Fire Department, said the hole in the street is 20 to 30 feet wide and several feet deep.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_757482.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Trib: Mt. Lebanon water main break buckles Cedar Boulevard

A water main break in Mt. Lebanon buckled a portion of Cedar Boulevard tonight.

The break that occurred at 7 p.m. in the 1100 block of Cedar Boulevard damaged the driveways and landscape of several homes and caused minor flooding in the basements of three homes, Mt. Lebanon fire Lt. Chris Switala said.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_750638.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

WTAE: Water Main Break Floods Mt. Lebanon Road

Watch the video:

• www.wtae.com/video/28603907/detail.html (WTAE)

Crane Accident Halts Port Authority 'T' Service In Mt. Lebanon

Service to the Port Authority's light rail "T" line was partially shut down Monday night when a construction crane crashed into a truck inside a tunnel in Mt. Lebanon.

Mt. Lebanon Fire Chief Nick Sohyda said the unattended crane drifted about 2,200 feet on the rails of the tunnel before crashing into a contractor's pickup truck.

Read the full article:

• www.wtae.com/news/28377181/detail.html (WTAE)

WTAE: Evacuation Ordered In Mt. Lebanon After Gas Line Ruptures

Allegheny County 911 dispatchers said a Mt. Lebanon street was evacuated because of a gas leak.

Dispatchers said a crew working with a backhoe hit a gas line in the 600 block of Washington Road on Friday morning.

However a spokesman for Equitable Gas said crews determined the problem was actually a leaking pipe inside restaurant.

Read the full article (with video):

• www.wtae.com/news/28119190/detail.html (WTAE)

newPA: Corbett Administration Recognizes Six Greater Pittsburgh Area Municipalities and Officials for Dedication, Innovative Management

Lt. Governor Jim Cawley, on behalf of Governor Tom Corbett, today recognized three local government officials and three municipalities in the Greater Pittsburgh area for their commitment to their communities and for using innovative approaches to municipal service delivery that resulted in cost savings and service efficiencies.

“As local government officials you hear firsthand the issues of your constituents and it is your responsibility to provide solutions that make your community a vibrant place to live, work and raise a family,” Lt. Governor Cawley said at the 15thannual Governor’s Awards for Local Government Excellence. “This celebration is a testament to your hard work and an acknowledgement that your concern for your community and your dedication has not been overlooked.”

The following municipalities in the Greater Pittsburgh area were recognized today:

* Mount Lebanon Township, in Allegheny County, was recognized in the category of “innovative community and governmental initiatives” for the Mount Lebanon Fire Department’s integration and use of a new information technology system that has improved service delivery, increased safety of fire personnel and enhanced fire service to the residents of the township.

Read the full article:

• www.newpa.com/newsroom/corbett-administration-recognizes-six-greater-pittsburgh-area-municipalities-and-officials-for-dedic (newPA)

P-G: Fire damages Mt. Lebanon home

A fire early today damaged a Mt. Lebanon home.

No one was hurt in the blaze that was reported at 2:30 a.m., according to an emergency dispatch supervisor. The fire was brought quickly under control and was confined to a sun-room area, the dispatcher said.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11100/1138430-100.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)