DCFD Engine 33 Truck 8 - The Valley

The members of Engine 33 and Truck 8 wish to congratulate Firefighter Technician David Ballard on his retirement after 30 years of service to the citizens of The District of Columbia. Dave was appointed to the department in June of 1992 and upon completion of training was assigned to Engine 15 before transferring to Engine 33 where he spent the majority of his career serving as the Wagon Driver on the #2 platoon. The members thank Dave for his years of hard work, dedication, knowledge, and for teaching many of the younger members over the years engine company operations. The members wish Dave and his family all the best in his future endeavors in his much earned and well deserved retirement.

The Valley’s senior man is hanging it up!

2 Working Fires for The Valley 2/1/23…..

At 10am E33 was dispatched and arrived 1st due for the structure in the 3400 Blk of Wheeler Road SE, a 2 1/2 story single family detached house was found with heavy smoke showing from the attic and roof, E33 stretched and extinguished a fire in the attic.

Just before 1600 hrs. E33 and T8 were dispatched on the box alarm for the 2400 Blk of Alabama Ave. SE. Units arrived to find smoke from the eves of a 3 story apartment building. A second alarm was sounded with fire in the cockloft. T8 was 2nd due and took position in the rear, deploying ladders and ventilating the roof, along with extensive overhaul. E33 was 5th due and was the RIT.

1/10/2023 | 600 BLK Chesapeake St. SE |Engine 33 & Truck 8 First due | platoon 2 | At approximately 2319 hours, a box alarm was sounded for 4200 BLK of 7th St. SE for the reported house on fire. Units arrived to find a two story residential at the end of the row with fire showing on the first floor on side A in the 600 BLK of Chesapeake St. SE. Engine Company 33 arrived as the first due engine company and extinguished all fire on the first floor. Truck Company 8 arrived as the first due truck company and preformed forcible entry, primary searches and ventilation. After overhaul Engine 33 and Truck 8 returned to service shortly after 0300 hours. No injuries were reported.

8/18/2022 Working Fire | Engine 33 & Truck 8 First due | 126 Mississippi Ave. SE | platoon 4 | At approximately 0215 hours units were dispatched to the 100 block of Mississippi Ave. for a reported house fire. E33 and T8 arrived to find a 2 story semi-detached with smoke showing from both floors on sides A & B. Engine 33 located and extinguished the fire in the basement while Truck 8 deployed ground ladders and preformed ventilation and overhaul. Searches were negative and no injuries reported.

8/7/2022| 722 Mississippi Ave SE|Working Fire| E33 first due. T8 first due| Platoon 2| At 1344 a box alarm was sounded for 722 Mississippi Ave SE. Upon arriving on scene crews reported smoke and fire showing coming from the Bravo/Charlie side corner and the Working Fire Dispatch was transmitted. Engine 33 company conducted fire suppression operations on the second floor and Truck company 8 crews preform ventilation operations and conducted primary searches as well as salvage and overhaul once the fire was knocked down.

7/24/2022 working structure fire| Engine 33 & Truck 8 First due| 8 Galveston Place SW| At 1050pm units were dispatched to 44 Forrester St SW for a box alarm, on arrival units found the correct address of #8 Galveston Place, T8 went on scene with smoke showing from the 2nd floor of a 2 story ordinary apartment building. Fire was found between the first and second floor and throughout the walls, T8 began opening up, ventilating and laddering the building. E33 stretched a 400’ preconnect and the fire was extinguished after the building was opened up. Units remained on scene for extensive overhaul after investigation by the Fire Investigators. There where no injuries, cause is still undetermined.

7/23/2022| Forrester St and Galveston PL SW |Working Fire| E33 first due. T8 first due| Platoon 3| At 0625 hours, right in the middle of shift change, a box alarm was sounded for the intersection of Forrester St and Galveston PL SW for a reported building on fire. Engine 33 arrived as the first due engine company and reported fire showing from the first floor of a two story vacant apartment building and also reported the corrected address as 2 Galveston PL SW. Engine 33 preformed fire suppression operations on the first floor. Truck 8 arrived as the first due truck company and proceeded to ladder the building, remove mantraps, and assisted with ventilation operations. No injuries to citizens or fire department personnel were reported.

Firefighter Jones is an upstanding member of this firehouse, anything you can contribute to help the Jones family during this unimaginable tragedy will be greatly appreciated by the family and our members.

Jones Memorial Fund | Help a Hero On Sunday, June 19th, tragedy struck our DC Firefighter family, when we lost Taniya Jones, the daughter of Firefighter Trevor Jones who is assigned to Truck 8 #4. Taniya was only 16...

6/21/2022 | 1300 BLK Howard RD SE |Working Fire| T8 2nd due, E33 5th due | Platoon 3| At 1104 hours a box alarm was sounded for the 1300 BLK of Howard Rd SE. First arriving units reported fire showing from the top floor of an apartment building. Truck 8 arrived as the second due truck company and assisted with laddering the building, cutting window bars, and ventilation. Truck 8’s inside team also assisted in the removal of one dog for it’s owner. Engine 33 arrived as the 5th due engine company and acted as part of the RIT team for the incident and water supply for Engine 25.

The members of Engine 33 and Truck 8 would like to congratulate Firefighter Technician Jay Bieler, who after thirty five years of service to the citizens of the District of Columbia, is retiring from the DCFD on March 26th. Jay started his career with Engine 34, which primarily served the St. Elizabeth’s Hospital campus in southeast DC in May of 1987. After five years with Engine 34, Jay was appointed to the DCFD in March of 1992 and was assigned to Engine 33, where he would spend the next thirty years, a majority of which serving as the wagon driver on the number four platoon. The members would like to thank Jay for his hard work and exceptional knowledge that he passed down to the younger members over years, and wish Jay and his family all the best in his future endeavors in retirement.

3/14/22 |3600 BLK 6th St SE |Working Fire| E33 2nd due, T8 1st due| Platoon 4| At 1944 hrs, a box alarm was sounded for an apartment fire in the 3600 BLK of 6th St SE. Engine 33 responded as the 2nd due engine company and reported fire showing from the 1st floor on the Charlie side of a three story apartment building with people trapped on the upper floors. Truck 8 responded as the first due truck company and laddered the building, making multiple rescues as Engine 33 conducted fire suppression operations on the fire floor.