Montgomery County Department of Public Safety

On Saturday afternoon, the Montgomery County Hazardous Materials Response Team (HMRT) was dispatched to assist with the investigation of unknown substances found in the basement of an apartment building in Pennsburg Borough. HMRT personnel remained on scene for approximately four hours.

The Department of Public Safety would like to wish a very happy National EMS Week to all of the Emergency Medical Services professionals in Montgomery County and across the United States! EMS Week honors the dedication of those who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services of medicine's "front line" and serve an essential role in protecting the health and wellbeing of our citizens and responders. We would like to recognize our EMS providers and extend heartfelt gratitude for... everything they do each day to save lives and foster a strong EMS system in Montgomery County. In particular, over the past 14 months, our EMS professionals have gone above and beyond the call of duty to keep our County’s residents and visitors safe and healthy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Pictured here are some of the lawn signs that we have been delivering to our EMS stations and hospitals throughout the week. Thank for your service to our community!

8:30 PM UPDATE: The issue has been resolved. 9-1-1 connectivity has been restored for AT&T wireless customers. ORIGINAL POST: We have been notified by AT&T that their wireless customers may experience difficulty calling 9-1-1 from a cell phone. If you are calling from Montgomery County and are unable to reach a 9-1-1 operator, please call 610-635-4300.

Interim Director Vest and the members of the Department of Public Safety deeply regret to announce the passing of Robert Stahl, Jr., on April 24, 2021. Bob joined HazMat 919, one of the predecessors of the Montgomery County Hazardous Materials Response Team (HMRT), back in 2003, and served many years as training officer both pre- and post-team consolidation. He continued to remain an active member even after his diagnosis with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2018. Bob dedicated ...his life to emergency services. In addition to his time with Montgomery County, he was also a member of the Southampton Fire Company No. 1 in Bucks County for over 50 years, including five as chief, and served as a U.S. Fire Administration - National Fire Academy instructor for 25 years. Bob had a passion for teaching and truly had a wealth of knowledge that he was always willing to share with his colleagues. He is pictured here demonstrating hazardous materials mitigation techniques for the Montgomery County Commissioners outside of the County Courthouse in Norristown a few years ago. Services for Bob will take place on Saturday, May 8th, with a visitation from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM and a memorial service to follow immediately after. More details and Bob’s obituary can be viewed at: https://www.dignitymemorial.com//sou/robert-stahl-10165852

Video replay of the Wednesday, May 12th #MontcoPA Board of Commissioners #coronavirus update. Key info from today’s briefing: 495 new positive cases for the week of May 5th-11th (average of 70.7 per day) 9 cases are from long term care facilities; none are the result of antibody testing.... Positivity rate (as of May 6th): 5.68% (decrease of 1.18 percentage points since last week) Age range of today’s positives: 1 month 96 years old 12 new deaths reported for the week of May 5th-11th. The total number of Montgomery County residents confirmed positive to have died from COVID-19 is 1,314 (666 females, 648 males). Hospital update: There are approximately 141 individuals being treated for COVID-19 in Montgomery County hospitals (decrease of 61 since last week) with approximately 16% of them requiring the use of a ventilator. Vaccine update: The Montgomery County Office of Public Health and Department of Public Safety have administered 93,987 first or single doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 71,474 second doses. A total of 221,883 Montgomery County residents (26.7% of County population) are partially vaccinated and 234,075 are fully vaccinated (28.2%).

The April edition of Public Safety News is now available! View a copy or subscribe to the monthly newsletter here: https://www.montcopa.org/1527/Public-Safety-News This month's edition includes articles on: 2020 Telecommunicator and Trainee of the Year Announced... National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week: Thank You! Department of Public Safety Personnel Changes Firefighters Complete Entry-Level Training US&R Team Completes Heavy Equipment Training Emergency Management Certifications Awarded Fire Police Association Updating Countywide Contact Information Preparations Underway for Limerick Generating Station Exercise Windows 7 End-of-Life for MDCs Quickly Approaching Cradlepoint Modem Deployment Continues for EMS Agencies Radio Reprogramming Effort Underway Fire Police Task Force Modifies Dispatch Procedure COVID-19 Pandemic: Key Information for First Responders See more

Our weekly #COVID19 briefing will take place today at 1:30 PM. We have three options to watch or listen: 1) Watch it live on Montgomery County, PA. 2) Watch the recording later on www.youtube.com/c/montgomerycountypadepartmentofpublicsafety. Closed captions will be available on YouTube the day after the press briefing.... 3) Listen live on our ReadyRadio FM network, online at https://radio.securenetsystems.net/cirruscontent/MCDPS or over the air: 92.1 FM Fort Washington 92.9 FM Lansdale 105.7 FM Plymouth 105.7 FM Marlborough 106.5 FM Eagleville

A High Wind Warning starts at 2 PM today for Montgomery County and lasts until 4 AM tomorrow (Saturday). Northwest winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts of 50 to 60 mph are expected across the area. The strongest wind gusts are most likely to occur from late this afternoon through the pre-dawn hours on Saturday. Winds are already picking up across the region, so be sure to secure loose outdoor items such as trash cans, lawn furniture, and decorations. If you lose power during th...e storm, please do not call 9-1-1 simply to report the outage. Instead, contact your electric utility provider: - PECO: 1-800-841-4141 - PPL Electric Utilities: 1-800-342-5775 - Met-Ed: 1-888-544-4877 However, if you believe an outage-related emergency is occurring or imminent, such as a smoking outlet in your home or wires down across a street, our 9-1-1 operators are always ready and willing to assist you. Stay safe!

A High Wind Watch goes into effect for Montgomery County starting tomorrow (Friday) at 12 PM. Expect northwest winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts of 50 to 60 mph possible throughout the afternoon and overnight hours. Damaging winds could blow down trees and power lines and widespread power outages are possible. Travel could be difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles.

Video replay of the Wednesday, April 28th #MontcoPA Board of Commissioners #coronavirus update. Key info from today’s briefing: 1,214 new positive cases for the week of April 21st-27th (average of 173.4 per day) 11 cases are from long term care facilities; none are the result of antibody testing.... Positivity rate (as of April 22nd): 7.70% (decrease of 0.52 percentage points since last report) Age range of today’s positives: 1 month 96 years old 13 new deaths reported for the week of April 21st-27th. The total number of Montgomery County residents confirmed positive to have died from COVID-19 is 1,289 (657 females, 632 males). Hospital update: There are approximately 226 individuals being treated for COVID-19 in Montgomery County hospitals (decrease of 2 since last week) with approximately 8% of them requiring the use of a ventilator. Vaccine update: The Montgomery County Office of Public Health and Department of Public Safety have administered 85,458 first or single doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 59,844 second doses. A total of 226,127 Montgomery County residents (27.2% of County population) are partially vaccinated and 180,948 are fully vaccinated (21.8%). Next virtual briefing is scheduled for Wednesday, May 12th at 1:30 p.m.

Video replay of the Wednesday, December 30th #MontcoPA Board of Commissioners #coronavirus update. Key info from today’s briefing: 298 new positive cases since Tuesday, Dec. 29th 22 cases are from long term care facilities; none are the result of antibody testing.... Positivity rate (as of Dec. 25): 10.53% (a decrease of 0.4 percentage points since last report) Age range of today’s positives: 1 year old 96 years old 5 new deaths reported since Tues 12/29, bringing the total number of Montgomery County residents confirmed positive to have died from COVID-19 to 1,007 (521 females, 486 males). Hospital update: There are approximately 438 individuals being treated for COVID-19 in Montgomery County hospitals (decrease of 26 since last week) with approximately 13% of them requiring the use of a ventilator. Next virtual briefing is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 3 p.m.

Tune in today at 3:00 PM for our next briefing on the #COVID19 pandemic. We have three options to watch or listen: 1) Watch it live on Montgomery County, PA 2) Watch the recording later on www.youtube.com/c/montgomerycountypadepartmentofpublicsafety. Closed captions will be available on YouTube the day after the press briefing.... 3) Listen live on our ReadyRadio FM network, online at https://radio.securenetsystems.net/cirruscontent/MCDPS or over the air: 92.1 FM Fort Washington 92.9 FM Lansdale 105.7 FM Plymouth 105.7 FM Marlborough 106.5 FM Eagleville

PRESS RELEASE: This afternoon, Montgomery County officials provided an update on the COVID-19 pandemic and released a summary of the previous 7 days of data. There were 2,357 new cases and 34 deaths in Montgomery County over the 7-day period from Wednesday, December 23rd through today (Tuesday, December 29th). Daily numbers are as follows: - Wednesday, December 23rd: 361 cases and 5 deaths... - Thursday, December 24th: 460 cases and 6 deaths - Friday, December 25th: 410 cases and 0 deaths - Saturday, December 26th: 401 cases and 0 deaths - Sunday, December 27th: 247 cases and 0 deaths - Monday, December 28th: 180 cases and 20 deaths - Tuesday, December 29th: 298 cases and 3 deaths During the previous 7-day period (December 16th-22nd), there were 2,608 cases and 27 deaths. A total of 32,441 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Montgomery County and 1,002 have died. Next press conference: Wednesday, December 30th Next press release: Tuesday, January 5th

Based on forecast information from the US National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mount Holly, a Code Blue Cold Weather Health Emergency has been declared for Montgomery County starting at 9:00 PM tonight (Tuesday, December 29th) and ending tomorrow (Wednesday, December 30th) at 9:00 AM. During this time period, the temperature and/or wind chill are expected to be at or below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Residents of Montgomery County who need emergency shelter during a Code Blue can call the Your Way Home Call Center at 2-1-1 or text their zip code to 898-211. For more information, visit www.montcopa.org/CodeBlue.

Video replay of the Wednesday, Oct 28 #MontcoPA Board of Commissioners #coronavirus update. Key info from today’s briefing: 92 new positive cases reported since Tue, Oct 27 (three are from long term care facilities; none are the result of antibody testing.)... Positivity rate (as of Oct 23): 3.16% (an increase of 0.85% since last report) Age range of today’s positives: 6 years 87 years old No new deaths reported today, leaving the total number of Montgomery County residents confirmed positive to have died from COVID-19 at 838. Hospital update: There are approximately 70 people being treated for COVID-19 in Montgomery County hospitals (an increase of 54% from last week.) Approximately 8% of these individuals require the use of a ventilator. Next virtual briefing is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov 4

PRESS RELEASE: Director of Public Safety Thomas M. Sullivan to Retire in January 2021 Tom was supposed to retire earlier this year but deferred his retirement when COVID hit, said Dr. Val Arkoosh, Chair of the Montgomery County, PA Board of Commissioners. His steady leadership, expertise, and professionalism have been enormously helpful to me and, without question, contributed to an integrated and forward-looking response to this pandemic that has saved many lives. Tom, yo...u will be sorely missed, and I want to thank you for your service. Thank you for all the work you’ve done for Montgomery County, particularly in this past year, said Kenneth E. Lawrence, Jr., Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. You helped us so much throughout the pandemic, always kept us together, and focused our team on solving problems and creating solutions. Thank you, Tom, for all of your work. You will truly be missed. Whether it was handling an emergency crisis or managing the day-to-day operations of the Public Safety Department, Director Sullivan was always a steady hand and a leader that was cool, calm, and collected, said Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale. Tom is the definition of a gentleman and someone I highly respect. His steadfast service to Montgomery County will be missed. To view the full release, visit https://www.montcopa.org//Press-Release-122920-Director-of

This afternoon, Montgomery County officials provided an update on the COVID-19 pandemic and released a summary of the previous 7 days of data. There were 518 new cases and 1 death in Montgomery County over the 7-day period from Wednesday, October 21st through today (Tuesday, October 27th). Daily numbers are as follows: - Wednesday, October 21st: 39 cases and 0 deaths... - Thursday, October 22nd: 71 cases and 0 deaths - Friday, October 23rd: 81 cases and 0 deaths - Saturday, October 24th: 84 cases and 0 deaths - Sunday, October 25th: 71 cases and 0 deaths - Monday, October 26th: 88 cases and 1 death - Tuesday, October 27th: 84 cases and 0 deaths During the previous 7-day period (October 14th-20th), there were 339 cases and 1 death. A total of 13,442 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Montgomery County and 838 have died. Next press conference: Wednesday, October 28th Next press release: Tuesday, November 3rd

Exposed to someone with COVID-19? Need a "peace of mind" test before visiting a loved one? Woke up with a cough, fever, or other related symptoms? Look no further than Montgomery County's (6) six COVID-19 community based walk-up testing sites! We test Monday through Friday (hours vary by location and day) in Ardmore, Green Lane, Lansdale, Norristown, Pottstown, and Willow Grove. Benefits of using Montgomery County's test sites:... - They're FREE! No co-pay or testing fee will be charged. - You will have your results within 36 hours. No need to wait a week to find out! - All ages are welcome! Many pharmacies and urgent cares will not test children. - The following are NOT required: health insurance, proof of symptoms, proof of exposure, doctor/healthcare provider's order, prescription, or a vehicle. We do ask that the person being tested live, work, OR go to school in Montgomery County. Appointments are REQUIRED at our test sites. Register quickly and securely for a time slot of your choosing online at https://data-montcopa.opendata.arcgis.com//covid-testing-p or by calling (610) 970-2937. You can make an appointment starting at 8:30 AM on the day on which you'd like to be tested.

Video replay of the Wednesday, Oct 21 #MontcoPA Board of Commissioners #coronavirus update. Key info from today’s briefing: 41 new positive cases reported since Tue, Oct 20 (none are from long term care facilities; none are the result of antibody testing.)... Positivity rate (as of Oct 16): 2.31% (an increase of 0.03% since last report) Age range of today’s positives: 11 years 77 years old No new deaths reported today, leaving the total number of Montgomery County residents confirmed positive to have died from COVID-19 at 837 (445 females, 392 males) Hospital update: There are approximately 39 people being treated for COVID-19 in Montgomery County hospitals, with approximately 7 of them requiring the use of a ventilator Correctional Facility update: The situation at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility is stable today, with no new cases to report The next virtual briefing is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Wed, October 28 See more

A very foggy (and spooky! ) morning here at the Emergency Operations Center. Please be careful if you must travel!

On Tuesday evening, Department of Public Safety Chief Medical Officer and Montgomery County Regional EMS Medical Director Dr. Alvin Wang was presented with the David J. Lindstrom EMS Innovation Award at the 43rd annual Pennsylvania Emergency Medical Services Conference, held virtually. Alvin was recognized for numerous efforts, including his work with the County and State Medical Advisory Committees to develop and implement pilot treatment programs over the past few years and... for his invaluable assistance to Montgomery County during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weeks before the first positive test results were announced in Pennsylvania, Dr. Wang worked to implement Acute Febrile Respiratory Illness and travel-related screening questions for 9-1-1 callers in Montgomery County, and was directly responsible for early testing of first responders that were known to be exposed at the beginning of the pandemic. He later assisted in the development of a first responder exposure self-reporting form to assist police, fire, and EMS personnel with quarantine, testing, and isolation, and worked with the Office of Public Health, County Commissioners, and Department of Public Safety to plan, deploy, and operate the community based COVID-19 testing sites across the County. Dr. Wang’s leadership in data collection and analysis throughout the pandemic has provided valuable information for senior officials about viral spread and contact tracing among both first responders and the general public. Alvin has significantly elevated the profile of prehospital medicine both in Montgomery County and throughout southeastern Pennsylvania during these unprecedented times. We are so lucky to have him as a part of our team! Congratulations, Alvin!

Good news! Pennsylvania American Water has lifted the Boil Water Advisory issued on October 12th for customers on its Norristown system. Questions about a BWA or what to do afterward? Visit https://www.amwater.com//wat/what-is-a-boil-water-advisory.

Video replay of the Wednesday, Oct 14 #MontcoPA Board of Commissioners #coronavirus update. Key info from today’s briefing: 47 new positive cases reported since Tue, Oct 13 (none are from long term care facilities; none are the result of antibody testing)... Positivity rate (as of Oct 9): 2.28 % (an increase of 0.04% since last report) Age range of today’s positives: 9 months 78 years old 28,344 Montgomery County residents were tested in the 14-day period ending Oct 9 which is an increase of 2,995 people tested compared with the 14-day period ending Oct 2 No new deaths reported today, leaving the total number of Montgomery County residents confirmed positive to have died from COVID-19 at 837 (446 females, 390 males) Hospital update: There are approximately 38 individuals being treated for COVID-19 in Montgomery County hospitals, with approximately 8 of them requiring the use of a ventilator Correctional Facility update: Conditions at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility are stable with no new cases to report. The next virtual briefing is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct 21

As of this morning, portions of the following municipalities remain under a Boil Water Advisory: - Bridgeport Borough - East Norriton Township - Lower Providence Township... - Municipality of Norristown - Perkiomen Township - Plymouth Township - Upper Merion Township - West Norriton Township - Whitemarsh Township - Whitpain Township - Worcester Township If you live in one of these townships or boroughs, check out this map to see if you are in the advisory area: https://paaw.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html. Aqua customers are NOT affected.

Pennsylvania American Water today issued a boil water advisory for all customers in its Norristown water system. Approximately 33,500 customers are affected. Pennsylvania American Water experienced a drop in positive water pressure due to a water main break this morning. As a result, there is an increased chance that the water might contain disease-causing organisms. Crews have isolated the main break, and water pressure is currently being restored to all customers. This noti...ce applies to all Pennsylvania American Water customers in its Norristown system, which includes the boroughs of Norristown and Bridgeport and portions of West Norriton, East Norriton, Upper Merion, Plymouth, Lower Providence, Whitpain, Worcester, Whitemarsh, and Perkiomen townships. For a map of the affected area, visit pennsylvaniaamwater.com and click on Alerts. DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring all water to a rolling boil, let it boil for one minute, and cool before using; or use bottled water. You should use boil or bottled water for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth, and food preparation until further notice. Inadequately treated water may contain disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses and parasites, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea and associated headaches. These symptoms are not caused only by organisms in drinking water, but also by other factors. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may wish to consult with your health care provider. People with severely compromised immune systems, infants and some elderly may be at increased risk. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791. What is being done? Pennsylvania American Water crews have isolated the main break, and water pressure is currently being restored to all customers. Pennsylvania American Water will collect and analyze additional water quality samples including bacteria samples. PA American Water will inform you when the corrective actions have been completed and you no longer need to boil your water. This information will also be provided on Pennsylvania American Water’s website at www.pennsylvaniaamwater.com, under the Alerts section. For more information, contact Pennsylvania American Water’s customer service center at (800) 565-7292. For more information on Boil Water Advisories visit: https://amwater.com//water-q/what-is-a-boil-water-advisory.

Commercial Building Fire - 500 block of Flint Hill Road, Upper Merion Township - 10.8.20