Emergency services busy in Slippery Rock during ‘Slip Patties’ Saturday
SLIPPERY ROCK — First responders in the borough stayed busy Saturday, March 7, as Slippery Rock University students celebrated St. Patrick’s Day early during an annual tradition known as “Slip Patties.”
Both Slippery Rock Borough police and Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company and Rescue Team members responded throughout the borough and township to a large number of incidents related to partying, medical emergencies and fire alarms.
“The guys ran from call to call,” said borough police Chief Terry A. Fedokovitz.
He said it was the busiest St. Patrick’s Day celebration he’d seen in years, as he described officers responding to the same locations over and over for disturbances like “a game of cat and mouse.”
He said it makes things more difficult when a police car pulls up to a party and everyone runs.
At one point in the evening, a Stat MedEvac helicopter responded to a medical emergency at an apartment complex, according to Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company and Rescue Team Chief Ryan Hanchosky. He provided no further details about the call.
Borough police also responded to two incidents of reported shots fired in the area, but one incident turnout out to be fireworks and the other was unfounded.
Fedokovitz added that calls for potential shots fired are common since Slippery Rock is in a valley, which makes it hard to tell where loud noises originate from.
He said some incidents are also still being investigated.
Borough police issued only two citations for underage drinking, Fedokovitz said. His department responded to four disturbances, which he said were for people starting fights and two calls to assist university police. He said state police also responded to a couple of additional incidents.
Attempts to reach Slippery Rock University Police Chief Kevin Sharkey and state police Monday afternoon were unsuccessful.
“We knew this was coming,” said Slippery Rock fire and rescue team Chief Ryan Hanchosky. “We heard about Slip Patties, so the department was able to plan for it.”
Hanchosky said all of the department’s ambulances and fire engines were fully staffed as opposed to having one ambulance staffed.
He said the fire and rescue teams responded to 14 calls throughout the day, including several repeat calls to apartment complexes where students were pulling fire alarms “thinking they’re funny, but they’re not.”
The busiest part of the day was at about 2:15 p.m. when the fire company and rescue team responded to a two-vehicle crash on Route 8 beside Ralston Road in Slippery Rock Township. The call for the crash came in at the same time as several ambulance calls, Hanchosky said.
Hanchosky thanked the rescue team’s mutual aid companies, including Superior Ambulance; Butler Ambulance Service; Medic 956, which is Allegheny Health Network’s Prehospital Response Unit; and the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company. He also thanked state police for keeping scenes safe as his crews evaluated minor injuries at the crash scene.
