F1 TORNADO HITS THE CITY

    The evening started at 1749 hrs when a “Wires Down” call was dispatched at Lake Jackson Drive and Hastings Drive.  Engine 501A responded and found a power line on top of two vehicles.  Three people were in these vehicles and had to remain until the City electric department arrived to safely remove the wire from the vehicles.  Engine 501A cleared at 1850.

    At 1752, a call for a building collapse was dispatched on Yoder Street.  This was the first call related to building damage caused by the tornado.  Foam Engine 501, Attack 501, and Utility 501 responded immediately along with Rescue 501 from the Manassas Rescue Station.  Yoder Street Command was established and the assessment of injuries and damage to other houses in the area began.  More calls were received regarding several houses on Yoder Street, Richmond Avenue, Okenshaw Drive, and several other streets in the neighborhood.  Calls were also received reporting damage to the Battery Heights apartment complex.  At the height of the response, Manassas Fire career and volunteer members had Engine 501, Engine 501A, Wagon 501, Foam Engine 501, Attack 501, HazMat Support 501, HazMat Support 501A, and Utility 501 on the street and responding to calls for storm damage.  Tower 501 and Utility 501A were both out of service for mechanical work and were not at the station.  Even with all of Manassas Fire’s units on the street, there were still MVFC volunteers at the station without a unit to use.  In addition to the Manassas units, Prince William County responded as part of the initial building collapse dispatch.  Wagon 516, Wagon 505, Truck 511, Rescue 508A, and Battalion 501 responded and assisted with injury and damage assessment.

    As the initial and secondary assessments were finishing, the majority of the damage was identified and no injuries were found.  The Prince William County units were placed in service and most of Manassas Fire’s units also went in service.  Several Manassas units did stay in the Yoder Street area to assist the Fire Marshall and Building Inspectors with condemning several houses for the night until a more detailed structural inspection could be performed in the morning.  Members of the MVFC Auxiliary volunteered their time to provided food and drinks for emergency personnel on the scene on Yoder Street.  By midnight, all Manassas Fire and Rescue units had cleared the neighborhood.

    MVFC volunteer and career firefighters provided an impressive response.  Eighteen MVFC members left their homes and families to respond to the station to provide emergency services for the City.  Five members of the career firefighter staff were also part of the emergency response, two of which were still at the station when the Yoder Street call was dispatched, three other members returned to the station within minutes of hearing the flurry of radio traffic.  Several Auxiliary members also braved the rain and wind to provide needed refreshments to emergency personnel on the scene of the incident.

    Several days later, the National Weather Service surveyed the damaged and determined that the tornado that hit the Yoder Street area was an F1 tornado on the Fujita Scale.  An F1 tornado has winds that are 73 mph to 112 mph.

Photos by Bob Ellis, MVFC Wagon Driver.