In
MONTH
the Fort Washington
Fire Company responded to:
53 Alarms
Averaging 13
responders per call
Totaling
364
responder hours
For All of 2005 the Fort
Washington Fire Company Responded to:
644 Alarms
Averaging 25 responders per call
Totaling 7217 responder hours
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Profile Of The Month
By Andy
Rathfon
Each month we profile one of
the many Volunteers that make up the Fort Washington
Fire Company. This month we are highlighting
Bob Toner Jr.
 Meet
Bob Toner Jr.
The current Assistant Chief of the Fort Washington
Fire Company No.1, Bob Toner, joined the firehouse
in 1975 at the age of seventeen. Raised in Upper
Dublin Township, Bob already had a number of
friends, including Billy Carroll and Tom Lynd, which
were members of the company. While the trepidation
associated with joining any fraternal organization
was eased due to Bob’s established friendships with
active firefighters, it would not take long for Bob
to express his unique individuality by exhibiting a
relentless work ethic and devotion to the fire
company. As a result, Bob quickly gained the
respect of his peers and would be rewarded with
advancement into numerous leadership positions.
Upon graduation from Upper Dublin High
School, Toner went to work in Bob Ruth’s machinist
shop in Willow Grove. In the two years Bob spent
with Ruth, he learned valuable mechanical skills
that would lend him an expertise that would prove to
be easily applicable to the fire service. Following
his stint with Ruth, Bob was hired by his father at
Toner Cable Equipment Inc. located in Horsham.
Toner began delivering cable equipment to job sites
and coordinating trade shows in his early years with
the family owned business. Similar to his efforts
in the fire company, Bob was rewarded by slowly
climbing the corporate ladder, eventually landing
him in his current position as Vice President.
Toner was elevated to the position of
Lieutenant in 1979. Over the next twenty-seven
years, Bob would serve as a Captain, Battalion
Chief, Assistant Engineer, and Chief Engineer. His
latest promotion, occurring several years ago,
places Toner as the Assistant Chief of the company.
On the administrative side of the firehouse, Bob has
served as the Vice President and as a member of the
Board of Directors. Toner has also served on and
chaired numerous committees including the Apparatus,
Communication, Policy, Grounds, and Training Grounds
committees.
In Toner’s tenure as a firefighter and
officer he has responded to and commanded numerous
incidents. However, several incidents are ingrained
into his memory forever. Toner’s first “fire” was
an attic fire on Clinton Drive in which his crew
struggled to find the access point to the attic in
the intense heat and smoke. One of Toner’s most
memorable calls include a multiple fatal accident on
309 near the Turnpike overpass in which a VW
collided with an Oil Tanker Semi. In this incident,
Toner remembers talking supportively to the only
survivor of the VW as a crew worked feverishly to
extricate the trapped individual. Toner also
recalled a house explosion in the 1700 block of
Maple Glen in which he was the first on scene as a
newly appointed lieutenant.
Toner’s favorite piece of apparatus was
the 1964 C95 Mack Rescue Pumper. Toner states,
“Nobody in Montgomery County had anything like it.”
It was progressive and innovative, a truck with
rescue tools and a pump. Toner admits that it was
the precursor to our modern day Squads.
The knowledge, training, and experience
that Toner has compiled over the years has not only
attributed to his rank advancement, but also to the
level of respect afforded to him by his fellow
firefighters. He is considered opinionated, yet
insightful. The members of the company often turn
to Toner for guidance and wisdom. When asked about
the current state of the fire service and the
company itself, Toner stated that the service is
overregulated, by way of training mandates, and the
number of calls for service has tripled since he
joined. Toner states that the time demand on
current firefighters is taxing and can be difficult
on a family. Bob considers himself extremely
fortunate to be married to such a supportive and
understanding woman as Louise, his wife of
twenty-six years. Lastly, Bob is extremely proud of
all three of his children, Bobby Jr., Kelly and
Sean. He is ecstatic that his oldest, Bobby III,
has recently joined the company as well.
_______________________________
Help Wanted
In 2006 we want to add 6 additional
Firefighters to our rolls. If you are interested
contact Chief
Newhall. We will provide all the necessary
training.
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know someone who would enjoy receiving our
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_______________________________
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This is one of a series of newsletters from the Fort
Washington Fire Company No.1 in an effort to keep
the citizens and taxpayers of Upper Dublin informed
about the many and varied activities carried on by
our organization. Anyone may opt out of receiving
these e-mailed newsletters by clicking on the
unsubscribe link at the bottom of this Newsletter.
In each newsletter we will endeavor to provide
information that is informative, useful and even
entertaining. |
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FWFC
Announces 2006 Scholarship Award Recipient
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By
Ed Schuler
Each year the Fort
Washington Fire Company offers a $1000 scholarship
to one of its members in good standing who is a
senior in high school.
This year’s
Scholarship winner is firefighter Sean Dunn, a 2006
graduate of Upper Dublin High School. Sean is
planning to begin his studies in Engineering at
Lehigh University in the fall. Our congratulations
go to Sean for earning this award and our thanks for
volunteering his time in serving the community as a
firefighter.
The idea for this
scholarship began back in 1998 when one of our older
members wished to donate some money to the Fire
Company for a special cause. After some discussion
it was decided to use the money to seed the new
scholarship fund.
In order to qualify
for the award the student must be a member in good
standing of the FWFC and maintain a grade point
average (GPA) of 3.0 or greater. Specific
submission requirements include an official
transcript documenting the GPA, a list of colleges
applied to or accepted into, a list of
extra–curricular activities, a 1000 word essay
entitled “Why Volunteering is important to me”
and a recommendation from a high school teacher,
guidance counselor or principal.
High School students
16 years and older are welcome to join the Fort
Washington Fire Company as Junior Firefighters. They
will be trained alongside seasoned firefighters and
attend County Firefighting schools. Upon reaching
the age of 18 or graduation from high school they
are accepted as full members of the Company.
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Fire
Dangers on College Campuses
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By
Howard Schmuckler
College can be a fun time, but it can also be a very
serious time as well. There are an estimated 1,700
fires at college campuses in the United States
annually; that cause millions of dollars in property
damage, numerous injuries, and several deaths.
The number one cause of fires in college
dormitories, classroom buildings, fraternity and
sorority houses, is intentional (arson or suspected
arson). The next leading cause is cooking and the
third leading cause is smoking.
Smoke alarms and automatic sprinkler systems have
established an impressive fire prevention record.
The number of deaths, serious injury and property
damage has been minimized where both of these
systems have been installed. However, in some cases
where there has been a fire, it was found that the
smoke detectors were not functioning. Many college
campuses are in the process of installing fire
sprinkler systems, but there are still many college
buildings that do not have these fire suppression
systems.
Continued: |
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As we experienced in July, electrical storms can
cause a lot of damage and inconvenience.
During an
electrical storm it is important to observe some
simple but potentially lifesaving rules.
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Get inside a house, large building or automobile
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Don't stand near a single tall tree or the
tallest tree in a group
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Get out of and away from water
In the event of a flash flood
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Leave immediately if ordered to evacuate
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Go to higher ground, do not try to walk through
flowing water more than ankle deep
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Do not drive through flooded areas even if it
looks shallow enough to cross
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