In the wake of the devastating disaster in West, Texas that left 15 dead, nearly 200 injured and scores of homes and buildings destroyed, the Berwyn Fire Company has stepped up to assist the West Fire Department in getting back to protecting its community.

The Berwyn Fire Company will donate its 1983 E-One/Ford C-8000 Engine to West Fire Department. This engine, known as 'Engine 2-1', is capable of carrying 750 gallons of water and can sit 6 personnel. It has responded to thousands of incidents in its career in the Tredyffrin-Easttown community and surrounding areas.

The West Fire Department was established in 1894, the same year as Berwyn, and serves a community of about 2,800 people. They are 100% volunteer, and responded without hesitation on April 17th when dispatched to a structure fire at the West Fertilizer Plant. During an aggressive effort to extinguish the fire, a massive explosion occurred that killed five West Fire Department firefighters, four EMS responders, and a Dallas Fire-Rescue Captain.

"This fire and explosion have devastated the entire town in which so many people know and care about each other," said Chief Ron Siarnicki, Executive Director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). "We want to ensure the survivors and coworkers of those who died in the line of duty know that the entire fire service family is holding them in our hearts and doing all we can to offer support."

Due to the low resale value of Engine 2-1 and the fact that the new Engine 2-1 had been ordered previous to this disaster, the Berwyn Fire Company membership unanimously decided to support the City of West by donating this engine. This donation was made possible through the joint coordination of the Texas A&M Forest Service and Payne Springs Volunteer Fire Department (TX).

The Berwyn Fire Company would like to thank the Chester County Fire Chiefs Association and the fire companies of Avondale, Goshen, Ludwig's Corner, Kimberton, Paoli, Po-Mar-Lin, Radnor and West Grove for their donations of equipment to outfit Engine 2-1. The West Chester based company Quadratec is donating the transportation of equipment from Berwyn to Texas as well.

The truck will leave the Berwyn Fire Company on Wednesday, May 8th and make a two day journey to Payne Springs where it will undergo some final prep before being delivered to the City of West.

The Berwyn Fire Company encourages those who want to assist the City of West to send a donation to the NFFF national fund that has been established to assist the survivors and coworkers of the fire and EMS personnel who died in the line of duty. Checks can be mailed to:

NFFF c/o West, Texas Fire and EMS Fallen Hero Fund
P.O. Drawer 498
Emmitsburg, MD 21727

Donations also can be made by credit card at www.regonline.com/westtx. All donated funds will be used to assist the survivors and coworkers to rebuild their lives and support the programs and services they will need.