On Saturday FDMJ hosted the second annual Old Timers breakfast. Approximately 100 past members of the former Florin and Friendship fire companies as well as past and present members of FDMJ attended. A wonderful breakfast buffet was donated by The Gathering Place!

Photos by: Kenneth Newcomer

The members of FDMJ extend our condolences to the families, friends and coworkers of the two York City Firefighters killed in the line of duty this week. Rest Easy Brothers!

Last evening FDMJ members gathered together at the John Wright Restaurant in Wrightsville for the Annual Awards Banquet. An excellent dinner was highlighted by our annual video and awards ceremony. The following members were recognized for their tremendous contributions to our organization:
5 Years of Service: Scott Adams and Jason Stiltner
10 Years of Service: Gary Scheaffer and John Wilber
35 Years of Service: Kevin Hershey
Outstanding New Member: Ryan Gardill
Junior Firefighter of the Year: Zach Leid
Fire Police Officer of the Year: Curtis Herneisen
John H. Lutz Firefighter of the Year: Khrystian Ceron
Steve "Greg" McKain Training Award: Thomas Rothermel
Chief's Award: William "Bubba" Smith

Three Lifesaving Medals were given tonight for an incident that occurred in October of 2013. On the afternoon of Friday, October 11th, 2013, Fire Department Mount Joy, Maytown-East Donegal Fire Department, Columbia No. 1 Fire Department, Susquehanna Valley EMS, Northwest EMS, and Mount Joy Borough Police were dispatched to the rear of 500 Creekside Lane, Mount Joy Borough, for a water rescue. At this time, a severe weather event had caused mass flooding of the area, resulting in over twenty-five incidents in the Fire Department Mount Joy first due district over the course of forty-eight hours. FDMJ units had been answering calls for service already this day, and at the time of dispatch were returning from another call. Responding units were given a report by Lancaster County Wide Communications of two juvenile males playing in the flooded creek that were now clinging to a log.

The crew of Engine 75-2 for this incident was: FF Barry Leber (Driver), Deputy Chief Terry Bradley (Officer), Captain Mason Brandt, FF Steven Hammond, and FF Zach Jones. As Engine 75-2 arrived, the crew was met by FF Tristan Broome who reported that two children were stranded on a log in the flooded creek with very swiftly flowing water. He responded directly to the scene from his home nearby. Captain Brandt, FF Hammond, and FF Broome donned water rescue PPE and proceeded along the shore line of the creek to where the children were stranded. They were joined by FF Brett Hamm from Truck 75. FF’s Broome and Hammond entered the water in a clam spot behind a build-up of debris. They used a throw bag for the first child, who was able to hold on to it and was swung to the shore. FF Hamm entered the water up to his knees to pull the child out of the creek, as multiple trees prevented the rope from reaching the bank. This was repeated with the ring buoy for the second child. Both children were taken directly to an awaiting ambulance and fully recovered from this incident. With the temperature and velocity of the moving water, it was estimated that the two youths had mere minutes left before being swept away.

 Assistant Chief William Kanoff was awarded the Purple Cross for the injuries he sustained at the Union School Road fire in February.
Firefighter William Kanoff was awarded a Commendation Ribbon for his actions at the Union School Road fire in February as after being ordered to exit the structure, he left the structure, recognized that not all personnel had made it out of the building, and returned to the doorway to help guide firefighters out of the burning structure through high heat and zero visibility.
Firefighter Khrystian Ceron was awarded the Medal of Heroism and the Lifesaving Medal for his actions at the Union School Road fire. As portions of the structure were approaching collapse, interior crews were instructed to exit the building. In the process, Asst. Chief Kanoff became disoriented and was lost in the structure. After leaving the building and realizing a crew member was missing, FF Ceron reentered the structure, through high heat and zero visibility, without a hose line for thermal imaging camera, and located Asst. Chief Kanoff. He then helped remove Asst. Chief Kanoff from the structure moments before the area was consumed by flashover.
In addition, Chaplain James Carr announced his retirement as Chaplain of FDMJ at the end of 2018 after many years of dedicated service to the community in this position.
We would like to thank the Banquet Committee of Claudia Dennis, Emilee Kratz, and Amanda Nelson for putting this great event together.