On Saturday the Southard Fire Department held a coin toss at the corner of Route 9 and Maxim Southard Road. The weather was great and our residents were in a joyous and giving mood. The money raised will be used to support the fire company. Thank you to everyone that donated.

On Friday night the Southard Fire Department held an extrication drill in the parking lot of Blewitts Recycling in Howell Twp. The owners of Blewitts were kind enough to provide (4) vehicles for the members of Southard to practice and perfect their extrication skills.

Most teams will tell you it’s not how you start the season but how you finish.  Not so with the Southard Fire Department softball team.  These individuals pride themselves on perfection and nothing speaks louder than their current 38 game win streak in the Central Monmouth County Fireman’s League.
 
On Sunday, August 8th Southard took on the Adelphia Fire Department in the first of two semi-final games.  This was a rematch of the 2009 finals which Southard handily defeated Adelphia 17-4.  From the outset, it didn’t look good for Southard as Adelphia jumped out to an early lead and Southard, which had not played in nearly a month looked sluggish.  After a few key errors by Adelphia, Southard started to capitalize and you could hear from the Adelphia bench “you can’t beat Southard when you give them extra outs”.  This would hold true as Southard continued to pour it on defeating Adelphia 15-6 to return the finals and have the right to defend their championship.
 
In the second semi-final game East Freehold beat up on Freehold Boro and advanced to the finals against Southard.  As it became evident early on that East Freehold would advance, players from Southard had expressed a desire to have a crack at the Boro team that had ducked them in the regular season. 
 
In the finals, East Freehold jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.  That score would hold through the bottom of the 5th as Southard evened the score at 2.   As it started to get late in the game, the sense of urgency started to grow on the Southard bench.  With the bottom of the order due up in the bottom of the 7th, Southard looked poised to get something going.  Four consecutive walks would set the table for the top of Southard’s order and you knew they would capitalize and capitalize they did.  Southard scored 7 runs in the bottom of the 7th to blow open the game.  East Freehold went 1-2-3 in the top of the eight, while Southard tacked on 7 more runs in the bottom of the frame.  Southard went on to win 14-2 and secure their second consecutive Championship and Perfect Season.  Southard’s dominance continues as this is their 4th Championship in 7 years.

Congratulations to Team Members:
 
·   Rich Benhken Jr       Chis Jackson   
·   Donnie Franklin        Anthony Beams     
·   Ken Latchney            Lou Memmolo Jr.
·   Weldon Johnson      Billy Johnson
·    Karl Vella                  Joe Vella
·    Joe Swansinger      Jon Eric Charles
·    Mitch Oneill
 
 Grounds Crew
·    Mike Acevedo
·    Lou Memmolo Sr.
·    Scott Ryan

The Southard Fire Dept was dispatched to a single motor vehicle accident at the corner of Maxim Southard Road and Alexander Ave. Upon arrival units found a car that struck the residence and caused serious damage to the foundation. Howell First Aid was on location tending to the victims when 19-50 requested a medivac helicopter. Chief 3-66 arrived on location and started preparing for a helicopter landing at the corner of Route 9 and Alexander Avenue. Engine 3-75 arrived at the scene and stretched a hand line to protect the responders working on the victims in case of a fire starting. Engine 3-78 was requested to the medevac site, upon arrival the landing zone was setup. Shortly after setting up the LZ, EMS Command 19-50 cancelled the medevac and the LZ was broken down. Chief 3-66 responded to the scene to meet up with Chief 3-68 already on location at the main incident site. Engine 3-78 was advised to provide traffic control at the corner of Alexander and Larabee Ave. The Monmouth County Serious Accident Response Team was requested to the scene due to the seriousness of the injuries. Howell Police, Howell First Aid, MONOC, Howell Building Dept and the Southard Fire assisted with the accident. Unfortunately there was one fatality involved with this incident.

The Southard Fire Dept held their bi-monthly drill at the Tauton School. Engine 19-3-75 was requested in to a confirmed structure fire at the school. Upon arrival they were requested to pull (1) 1 3/4" pre-connect. Engine 19-3-78 was second due and hit the hydrant than dragged a 5" supply line to Engine 19-3-75. 19-3-90 arrived shortly after and was requested to prepare for aerial operations. Units were on location for 1.5 hours.

The Southard Fire Dept. and the Township of Howell mourn fallen NJ State Police Trooper Marc Castellano. Last Sunday, Castellano, 29, was struck by a passing vehicle on a shoulder of Interstate 195, in his hometown of Howell, as he took part in a search for an armed suspect - a report authorities later said was unfounded. Police officers from as far away as California, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Maine and Florida attended.

Southard Fire Dept. was dispatched to a motor vehicle fire at the Country Sudser Car Wash while the Funeral Procession was just beginning to leave the St. Veronicas Church. While en-route to the reported fire, Howell Police advised that they were receiving numerous calls and now they were reporting extension into the building. Units from Southard and Freewood Acres Fire Co. responded to the fire. Also assisting was Howell First Aid and Howell Police Dept.

The Southard Fire Dept. Ladies Auxiliary is now accepting applications to join our organization. Our organization supports our volunteer fire department and our community. For further information, please contact Maria at 732-580-3282 or mhessel2@yahoo.com. An application packet can also be downloaded from http://www.southardfire.org/recruitment-info.php