Strong winds and low humidity pose an increased danger for wildland and wood fires all day Thursday. The National Weather Service office in Louisville, Ky, issued A Fire Weather WATCH. The NWS stated, “Strong and gusty southwest winds, critically low relative humidity, and drying fuel conditions on Thursday afternoon will promote rapid-fire growth. Any fire that starts could quickly spread out of control.” A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur.

We ask all residents of Floyd County and all of the surrounding areas, refrain from open burning. If you see a fire not being attended or one that has started, please call 911 immediately. Fires that get out of control will spread rapidly.

If you have any questions, you can send us a message on any of our social media platforms or call the firehouse.

With more family and work activities at home, fire safety is critical. Working smoke detectors is crucial to alerting occupants of a fire in the home, where minutes count getting out alive.

Check your smoke detectors for operation and if they have expired, right now. Most of them have manufacture or expiration date on the back. If it’s ten years old or does not have one, it is time for a new one.

Lafayette Township Fire Protection District recognizes that some families have adversely been impacted during the shut-down. So we are offering free, ten year, 2-in-1 photoelectric and ionization smoke detectors. Regardless of your financial situation, we will provide smoke detectors for you, no questions asked. You can pick them up from the firehouse and install yourself, or we can do it for you. Your best option is to allow us to come and install them for you. That way, it doesn’t get lost in your to-do list.

We will come to your home with masks and proper distancing to install the smoke detectors. All of our staff, following CDC guidelines, are screened daily before they start their day.

If you, or someone you know, live in the Lafayette Township area and wish to receive a smoke detector, you can call, message us on our social media pages or call the firehouse for an appointment.

Email: info@ltvfd.org

Phone: 812-923-8003

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LafayetteTownshipFireProtectionDistrict

Twitter: @LTFPD

Friday September 11, 2020

Lafayette Twp Fire Protection District was dispatched to a motor vehicle collision on Hwy US 150 and Luther Rd around 7:40 AM Friday. Emergency crews arrived on scene a short time later. A truck, hauling a roll-off dumpster, collided with a passenger vehicle striking it in the driver’s door. The passenger vehicle came to rest an estimated two hundred feet from the initial collision.

One person was extricated from the passenger vehicle. Two victims were transported to the hospital. Injuries to the occupants of the automobiles were not found to be life-threatening on the scene.

Georgetown Twp Fire Protection District assisted as well as an Assistant Chief from Greenville Twp Fire Protection District who came upon the crash.

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020

Wednesday morning, the Floyd County EMA received a request to assist Floyd County Police to search for a suspect in a property theft in the area of 6600 St. Mary’s Rd.  EMA Director Kent Borrow contacted the Lafayette Twp. Fire Protection District to assist with our DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual UAV/drone. Within a few minutes of the request, the UAV and pilot arrived on the scene and began the search. The UAV has a camera that uses both visual and infrared, not night vision, showing heat signatures from almost a hundred feet in the air and up to two miles away from where it took off. Unfortunately, the search did not find the subject in the area. They were later found in New Albany and arrested.

This tool gives the department capabilities to search for people that may be lost. It also provides a vantage point above structure and wildland fires so officers in charge can see where the fire is and where it might be going to move resources where they are needed most. The UAV can also assist with pre-planning fire events at commercial buildings collecting photos from above and eliminating firefighters having to climb on the roof to inspect for safety hazards.

The Floyd County EMA Director was able to secure a grant for five drones. Lafayette Twp and Georgetown Twp Fire Protection Districts, New Chapel Fire Co., New Albany Fire Department, and Floyd County EMA.

August 4th, 2020

Tuesday morning LTFPD was dispatched to a home in the 7000 block of Scottsville Rd for a person injured on a construction site Tuesday morning. A retaining wall that was being constructed had collapsed injuring two workers. Neither worker was trapped under the rubble but did sustain injuries requiring transport to the hospital.

6-19-2020

Floyds Knobs, In

On Friday at 12:22 PM, LTFPD received a dispatch for a vehicle crash in the 6100 block of Scottsville Road. Rescue 1 and Dep. Chief Herthel responded to the scene and found a passenger car had collided with the guardrail. Part of the rail ended on top of the vehicle. The victim was not trapped and refused medical treatment on the scene.

6-18-2020

Georgetown, In

Thursday at 6:40 PM,  Lafayette Twp. Fire Protection District was dispatched on a box alarm at 9115 Nina Dr in Georgetown, In to assist Georgetown Twp. Fire Protection District on a structure fire. Dep. Chief Herthel, Assistant Chief Miller, Quad 11 from LTFPD, responded along with GTFPD Engine 2, Greenville Twp. Fire Protection District Engine 31 and Tanker 35. Dep Chief Herthel was first to arrive on the scene one minute after the dispatch to find heavy fire coming from the rear of the structure. A deck attached to the back of the structure was on fire and was moving inside the home. GTFPD Engine 2 arrived on the scene ten minutes later and began fire suppression. The fire had rapidly spread inside the structure’s first floor. With the help of all departments on the scene, the fire was under control within thirty minutes. All occupants of the structure escaped the home, and no firefighters were injured. There was significant fire damage to the house, and a vehicle parked near the structure also destroyed by fire.  The cause of the fire was a deck board had failed and led to a fire pit on it to fall over, catching the deck on fire.

LTFPD Rescue 1, Salvation Army Canteen Service Truck, and New Chapel EMS also assisted with support services during the incident.

06-18-20 9115 Nina Dr Structure Fire

On Friday, May 22, at 5:22 P.M., LTFPD was dispatched to a man trapped under a lawnmower in the 4400 block of Buck Creek Rd.  LTFPD Rescue 1 responded to the scene. A witness called 911 and tried to lift the mower off the victim; it proved it was too heavy. Rescue 1 arrived on the scene within five minutes of the dispatch and began to assist the victim. Mechanical rescue tools were able to lift the mower enough off the victim to free them from under the mower.

The lawnmower flipped over onto the victim after they attempted to drive it off a trailer and the ramps gave way. The victim refused medical treatment on the scene.

The regular business meeting and executive session meeting of the Lafayette Township Fire Protection District that was scheduled in accordance with Indiana code 38-8-11-13 and 5-14-1.5 for Thursday, April 30, 2020, at 7 PM local time will be postponed to a later date to be determined by executive orders 20-04 and 20-09 as well as guidance from the Public Access Counselor and the Department of Local Government Finance.

Early Thursday morning, just before 1 A.M., LTFPD responded to a structure fire at 8087 Atkins Rd. A shed on the property was reported to be on fire.

LTFPD’s Chief Klein was first on the scene and reported a shed was on fire and had spread to a box trailer with tires located inside. Quad 11 and Engine 11 from LTFPD arrived on the scene shortly after and were able to extinguish the fire within thirty minutes of the dispatch time.

There were no civilians or firefighters injured during the firefighting efforts. A Kerosene heater in the shed, that was to close to flammable materials, was the cause of the fire.

Other fire departments that assisted LTFPD with automatic aid were Georgetown Fire Protection District Engine 21, Greenville Township Fire Protection District Rescue 3, and New Chapel Fire Co. Engine 41.