On Friday 19 July 2002, at approx. 13:00 hrs. with temperatures in the low 90's the skies in the Millville & Bethany Beach area began to darken. By 13:20 rain began to fall and thunder could be heard a Thunderstorm was developing over the area. At 13:35 the Sussex County EOC dispatched the first of numerous alarms in the Millville & Bethany Beach area. Little did the departments in the area know that during the next 31/2 hrs. they would run 43 Fire/Rescue calls, with 3 of the being working alarms & two of them reaching 2nd alarm. The first working alarm was struck as a full box assignment at 14:01 sending Millville & Bethany Beach to a reported building fire at #11 Elliott Ave. in Ocean View. Engine 842 just returning from a previous call was on the air in seconds under the command of Captain Temple. Engine 842 arrived at 14:03 in extremely hvy rain, with a two car garage with hvy fire showing form sides 1 & 3. Captain Temple established 84 command and had his crew advance an attack line to begin fire suppression. At 14:08 the Sussex EOC advised 84 command to stand-by for a second reported working fire in his district and sounded a full box assignment for a Mobile Home fire at #23 Walnut Ct. in the Shady Dell sub-division, outside Ocean View. This also sent the already depleted crews from the Millville & Bethany Beach departments. At 14:08 Engine 841 checked on the responding from the Elliott Ave. incident under the command of Asst. Chief Magee. Engine 703 under the command of Chief Powell diverted from the Elliott Ave. incident to the Walnut Ct. incident, as both units were advised by EOC lightening had struck a mobile home and the caller reported fire the residence. Near-by Georgetown VFD Chief Marvel advised both Engine 841 & 703 he was on scene at #23 Walnut Ct. with hvy fire in the residence. At this time a cover assignment from the Dagsboro VFD was requested to fill the empty Millville station. Engine 703 was first to arrive to find a 14'x72' mobile home with and addition heavily involved and requested Tanker 84 & additional manpower. By this time units in the area were forced to slow their responses due to hazardous roadways. With crews from Millville and Bethany Beach stretched to their limits and cover-up crews enroute the Sussex EOC transmitted a 3rd working alarm in the area. At 14:20 a full box assignment was transmitted for a Building Fire at 17 Pond View Drive in the Sea Colony West sub-division of Bethany Beach. 70 Command was enroute immediately under the command of Asst. Chief Moore but was delayed by extremely poor weather and roadways conditions. Upon hearing the report of fire reported on the #2 flr. and also in the attic Asst. Chief Moore requested a 2nd alarm struck due the limited resources in the area. At the same time a 2nd alarm was request for the Walnut Ct. incident due to limited resources as well. At 14:23 Sussex EOC struck a 2nd alarm on both incidents bring the Dagsboro, Frankford, Rehoboth Beach, & Ocean City departments to the aid of the depleted Millville & Bethany Beach units. The Dagsboro & Frankford units were assigned to the Walnut Ct. incident with the exception of Dagsboro's Engine 732 which was diverted to a house struck by lightening. The Rehoboth Beach & Ocean City units were assigned to the Pond View Dr. incident. 70 Command arrived at 17 Pond View Dr. to find a 21/2 story townhouse complex with hvy. fire on the #2 flr. with extension into the attic. By this point the Sussex EOC was being overwhelmed with calls for service in the area and no units to handle them. So at 14:24 a special call for units to report to the area was made bringing the Millsboro, Selbyville, Georgetown, Lewes, & Roxana departments to the area to assist in handling the influx of calls. With the special call for assistance made this now placed 23 Engine Companies, 4 Truck Companies, 4 Rescue Companies, and some 13 support units operating in the area to handle the building number of calls. The National Weather Service has stated that the storm that developed over the area stalled for 3.5 hours dumping over 7.5" of rain, roadways were quickly consumed by the rain that was falling at a rate of 3" per hr. according to the National Weather Service. DE 26 along with numerous side streets and back roads had in some areas 8" to 10" of water covering them. The worst areas being DE 26 in the area of Lord Baltimore school were DelDot estimated 16" of standing water and on Hollywood St. in front of the Bethany Beach VFD had an Estimated 24" of standing water. The Bethany beach Fire Station had 8" to 10" of water inside its apparatus bays with the bay doors holding nearly 2 ft. of flood waters back.  with wind gusts reaching 82 mph. The NWS also advised that during the first 2 hrs. of the storm it is estimated that cloud to ground lightening struck every 3.5 minutes & dime size hail was reported. The storm eventually drifted westward effecting the Dagsboro & Gumboro area and then Northeast to Rehoboth Beach and out over the ocean. All though this storm never reached Super Cell status it was one of the most severe thunderstorms to hit the area in over 30 yrs. says the NWS of Mount Holly, NJ. Below is a call log for all storm related incidents in the Millville, Bethany Beach, Dagsboro, & Gumboro areas during this storm. Sussex County Fire/Rescue Log for 19 July 2002 (Storm Related Only) 13:35 Residential Fire Alarm - 12 Windswept Way, Bethany Beach Engine 701, Rescue/Engine 70, Tower 70 13:36 Residential Fire Alarm - 42 Deer Leap Drive, Salt Pond Sub-division, Cedar Neck Engine 842, Truck 84, Rescue 84, B-84 14:01 Box Assignment  House - 11 Elliott Ave., Ocean View Engine 842, Engine 841, Engine 701, Engine 703, Truck 84, Rescue 84, C-84, Medic 105, FM 16 14:08 Box Assignment  House - 23 Walnut Ct., Shady Dell Park, Ocean View Engine 844, Engine 841, Engine 703, Rescue/Engine 70, Tanker 84, A-84, EMS 100 14:14 Cover Assignment  Dagsboro VFD to Millville VFD Engine 732 14:20 Box Assignment  Building - 17 Pine Lake Dr., Sea Colony West Sub-division, Bethany Beach 70 Command, Brush 70, Tower 70, Engine 862, Engine 863, Tower 86, Rescue 86, Utility 7011 14:23 2nd Alarm on Box Assignment at 17 Pond View Dr. Sea Colony West Sub-division, Bethany Beach Engine 823, Engine 732, OC Engine 4, OC Engine 16, OC Tower 5, OC Utility 22, OC Chief 52 14:23 2nd Alarm on Box Assignment at 23 Walnut Ct. Shady Dell Park, Ocean View Engine 731, Engine 761, Engine 864 14:24 Mutual Aid request for equipment to stage in the Millville & Bethany Beach Area Engine 901, Engine 905, Rescue 90, Engine 832, Engine 766, Utility 7610, Engine 823, EMS 100, EMS 18 14:24 Cover Assignment  Selbyville VFD to Bethany Beach VFD, Station 2, Fenwick Island Engine 884 14:24 Cover Assignment  Gumboro VFD to Dagsboro VFD (Could not fill assignment due to calls in their 1st due) 14:25 Lightening Strike  House  213 Pine View Dr., Salt Pond Sub-division, Cedar Neck Engine 732, Rescue 90 14:28 Lightening Strike  House  118 Bow St., Holly View Terrace, Ocean View Engine 901, Engine 905 14:29 Transformer Fire  DE 26 in area of Church of God, Ocean View Ocean View PD handled FD not required 14:30 Cover Assignment  Lewes VFD to Rehoboth Beach VFD Engine 821, Utility 8211 14:34 Wires Down  US 9 in front of Banks Sporting Goods, Georgetown\ Brush 770, Engine 773 14:39 Mutual Aid (additional units)  Dagsboro, Frankford, & Roxana VFD to the Millville Area Unclear what units responded as most units from these departments were already operating or enroute 14:40 Cover Assignment  Georgetown VFD to Millville VFD Engine 773 14:44 Brush Fire - Dupont Blvd. s/o Nine Foot Rd., Dagsboro Brush 730, Engine 736, Brush 830, Engine 832, Engine 833, Tanker 83 14:50 Cover Assignment  Millsboro VFD to Dagsboro VFD Engine 832 14:53 Lightening Strike  House  Gulls Nest, Bethany Beach Engine 766, Engine 884, Rescue 90, Utility 7011 14:59 Box Assignment  House  303 Yaden Ln., Land of Pleasant Living Sub-division, Millville Engine 832, Engine 884, Engine 905, Truck 84, Rescue 84, C-84, Medic 105 15:00 Mutual Aid - Millsboro Engine 832 to Millville Area Engine 832 15:01 Cover Assignment - Millsboro VFD to Dagsboro VFD Engine 833 (returning from brush fire) 15:03 Lightening Strike  House  26 Heather Ln., Bethany Dunes Sub-division, Bethany Beach Engine 701, Engine 732 15:09 Transformer Fire  4th St. Ave. & Coastal Hwy, Bethany Beach Bethany PD handled FD not required 15:15 Wires Arching  Verizon Bldg., d=De 26 & Cedar Neck Rd., Millville Fire Police 7032 (nothing evident) 15:27 Lightening Strike  House  Sussex 424 n/o DE 24, Gumboro Engine 79-4, Engine 831, Ladder 83, Tanker 793, Tanker 795, Tanker 83, A-79 15:40 Trees Down in Road  Old Mill Rd. & Whites Neck Rd., Millville Brush 840, Engine 844 15:43 Utility Pole Fire - Coastal Hwy. in the area of the National Guard Armory, Bethany Beach Delaware State Police handled FD not required 15:44 Wires Down  Sussex 424 & Sussex 426, Gumboro Engine 791, Rescue 79, Willards Engine 801 15:45 Wires Down on Vehicle, 121 Campbell Place, Bethany Beach Engine 905, Rescue 90 15:48 Utility Pole Fire  Old Mill Rd. & Whites Neck Rd., Millville Brush 840, Utility 8411 15:50 Wire Down on House  145 Jefferson Bridge Rd, Bethany Beach Engine 884, Tower 70, Utility 7011 15:56 MVC, Coastal Hwy. & Holiday Inn Express, Bethany Beach Engine 832, Engine 901, Rescue/Engine 70, A-84, C-84, EMS 100 16:02 Utility Pole Fire  McDonalds, South Bethany South Bethany PD handled FD not required 16:14 Unknown Fire, 232 Sugar Hill Rd., Bethany Beach Engine 703, Engine 832, Engine 905, Rescue 90, Tower 70, Utility 7011 16:19 Residential Fire Alarm  12 Huling Cove, Bethany Beach Engine 832, Engine 862, Engine 766 16:21 Residential Fire Alarm  154 Hampton Ln., The Preserve Sub-division, Bethany Beach Engine 701, Engine 702, Tower 70 16:26 Lightening Strike  Building  Omar Rd., Bethel Tabernacle Church, Clarksville Engine 842, Engine 841, Truck 84, Rescue 84 16:31 Wires Arching - Coastal Hwy. & 1st St., South Bethany South Bethany PD handled FD not required 16:37 MVC, Vehicle submerged with Rescue - Pennsylvania Ave. at Sea Colony, Bethany Beach Engine 701, Engine 832, Engine 901, Rescue/Engine 70, Rescue 90, B-84, C-84, Medic 105, EMS 100, EMS 18 16:42 Cover Assignment  Selbyville VFD to Bethany Beach VFD, Station #2, Fenwick Island Engine 884 (returning from Bethany Beach area) 16:55 Investigation, Odor of Smoke  Edgewater House Sea Colony, Bethany Beach Engine 703, Rescue/Engine 70, Engine 884, Tower 70, Utility 7011 17:21 MVC  Hollyville Rd., Millsboro Engine 833, Engine 832, Rescue 83, A-83, Medic 103 17:46 Investigation, Smoke  Frankford School Rd. w/o DE 20, Roxana Engine 901, Engine 905