continued:

The FSRS evaluates and weighs three areas of a municipality’s fire services: 

  1. Fire alarm and communications (weight of 10%)

The Fort Washington Fire Company receives all of its alarms from the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center located in Eagleville.  This center receives all 911 calls and through a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system activates the three Township sirens and the personal pagers carried by each of our volunteer firefighters. 

  1. Fire department (weight of 50%)

Rated items include:

  • Fire stations
  • Fire fighting personnel
  • Fire equipment.

ISO checks the fire stations to verify that they are in the best locations so that fire apparatus can reach all sections of the township quickly. They verify the numbers of personnel that are available for emergency calls both day and night. They also verify the amount of training that each member receives.  Personal protective equipment that each fire fighter wears is checked to verify that it is approved and in good working order. All of the fire trucks are checked to verify that all equipment carried is in accordance with their accepted standards and in good working order.  The fire trucks themselves are checked and all fire pumps are tested to determine if they can perform at their rated capacities.

  1. Water supply system (weight of 40%).

The third area is water supply to determine if the water supplies are sufficient for fighting the largest of fires. The survey team conducted 21 hydrant tests in the township with acceptable results.  It should be noted that three different water departments service the Township, Ambler Water, Aqua Water and Philadelphia Water and all performed adequately. 

Upper Dublin residents should be proud of their Town 4 classification. Only 10% of the surveys conducted by ISO result in town class 4 or better and most of them are either fully or partially paid departments with fire fighters always on duty at the fire station. 

The Fort Washington Fire Company is 100% volunteer.  Every time you hear the fire siren, fire fighters all over the township are leaving home, work, school, or families to respond to the alarm.

Bob Wise, now retired, still serves in his sixteenth year with the Fort Washington Fire Police. During his professional years, he was a Fire Prevention Engineer with a degree in that field from Oklahoma State University. He was once the Industrial Fire Chief for Ford Motor Company’s assembly plant in suburban Los Angles and later he worked with ISO as part of a five man team conducting surveys of towns resulting in their receiving a Town classification.