In
April
the Fort Washington Fire Company responded to:
43 Alarms
Averaging 14.7
responders per call
Totaling
153
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
Each month we profile one of
the many Volunteers that make up the Fort Washington
Fire Company. This month we are highlighting
George Haggar
Meet
George Haggar
By
Andrew Rathfon
When
George Haggar joined the Fort Washington Fire
Company No.1 in 1938, at the age of eighteen, he
followed in the footsteps of his father Arthur G.
Haggar (1923) and older brother Arthur Haggar
(1934). Sixty-eight years later, George continues
to serve his community and is a highly respected
member of the fire company.
George
has worn many hats during his tenure as a Fort
Washington firefighter. On the administrative side,
he has been Vice President, a member and chair of
numerous committees, a member of the Board of
Governors for approximately fifty years, and a
member of the Board of Directors for the Relief
Association for about the same amount of time. As a
line officer, George was appointed to Assistant
Chief in 1947 where he served until he was elected
Chief in 1955. George commanded the fire company
until 1971, earning him the distinction as the
longest serving chief in the history of the Fort
Washington Fire Company.
“Uncle” George, as he is referred to by many of the
younger members of the fire company, took a brief
hiatus from the company to serve his country as
Boatswain (1st Class) in the United States Navy
during World War II. During his four years overseas
(June 1942 to December 1946) George served on the
cargo ship Florence Nightingale. The
Nightingale was part of an amphibious
landing force that ferried LCM’s and LCVP’s to
famous invasions such as North Africa, Sicily, San
Rafael, and Okinawa in the Pacific campaign.
When
George returned home from the war, he began working
for the gas department of the Philadelphia Electric
Company (PECO). During his thirty-six years of
employment with PECO, George gained the respect of
his co-workers and supervisors through his
commitment to learning and leadership abilities.
Because of his knowledge of firefighting and his
interest in natural gas, PECO commissioned George
with the task of establishing a training grounds;
its purpose would be to educate both PECO employees
and local emergency agencies about the danger of
natural gas in fires and extinguishment techniques.
The PECO training grounds that George created has
helped educate thousands over the years at its
location on River Road in West Conshohocken.
Continued
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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.
_______________________________
Help Wanted
If you are a skilled Network Manager and have 2-3
Hours per month to volunteer... Use your skills to
help us maintain our Network consisting of a server
running Server 2000 and six clients running XP Pro.
Please contact Ed
Schuler . It's a great way to serve the
Community while enjoying the company of other
talented and interesting people.
_______________________________
_______________________________
If you
know someone who would enjoy receiving our
newsletter, click on the "Forward email" link at the
bottom of this newsletter to send them a copy with a
personal note from you.
_______________________________
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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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Red Lights - Blue
Lights
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By
David Levy
The volunteer members
of Fort Washington and surrounding Fire Companies
often use blue lights, or red lights on their
personal vehicles when responding to an emergency.
Blue
Lights
— Firefighters and Fire Police may use their blue
lights when they are responding from their home or
other location when an alarm is sounded. The blue
light does not exempt the driver from complying with
all traffic laws. However, you are encouraged to
yield the right of way to them. The blue light
serves more as a request for courtesy and the
yielding of the right of way. Please remember that
we are trying to get to the Fire Station or the
Emergency Scene so that we can provide the necessary
emergency services.
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CPR
Training
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Many area
people only associate firefighters with fires and
rescues; however, there are instances where we are
called upon to assist the emergency medical
services. Fort Washington Fire Company requires
that all active members maintain current
certification in first aid and CPR. Our President,
Tim Evard, who is also a police officer and EMT, is
certified to conduct training in these fields.
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By
Howard Schmuckler
The
majority of Americans feel confident about their
safety from fire. This is even true for many people
who have experienced an unintentional fire. Men are
more confident about fire safety, despite having a
higher risk of death by fire than women. Older
adults (age 65 and older) express the highest
confidence of fire safety, however they have the
highest fire death rate among adults.
Americans feel the safest from fire in their homes.
However, homes account for approximately 80% of
fires and pose a much greater risk of death from
fire than any other location. Greater concern is
shown for hotels, which are actually among the
safest places to be in. A major reason that hotels
are safer is that many have sprinkler systems
installed, while a very small percentage of American
homes are equipped with sprinkler systems. Most
fire injuries and deaths that occur in homes occur
during the middle of the night when most people are
asleep, and are not aware of the fire. When a
sprinkler system is present, it will extinguish the
fire where it started, not allowing the fire a
chance to grow and spread. The smoke containing
deadly gasses are kept to a minimum, as well as the
flames
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By
Chief Brian Newhall
The residents of
Upper Dublin only need to know one number to dial in
the event of a police, fire, or medical emergency:
911. Montgomery County operates an enhanced 911
system based in the emergency dispatch center which
is located in Eagleville, just outside of
Norristown. An enhanced 911 system allows the 911
call center to know where you are calling from,
provided there is an address associated with the
phone you are using. Eventually, the system will be
able to track cellular 911 calls as well.
It is important
to understand that 911 is for emergencies only. You
can think of an emergency as any event where a
person or property is in imminent danger, or a
person is in severe pain. For non-emergencies or
business calls, each emergency organization has a 10
digit business line you can call, which can be found
in the phone book.
Dialing 911
starts a series of events which moves very quickly
to bring you the help you need. When you call, a
trained and certified tele-communicator at the 911
center answers your call on the first or second
ring. They will ask you what your emergency is, and
immediately enter the call into a computer, along
with your name, address, and phone number. When the
call is entered into the computer, it is
simultaneously sent via a dedicated phone line to a
computer at the Upper Dublin Police Department,
where a police officer is dispatched. If you need
the fire company or an ambulance, they are
dispatched from the radio room in Eagleville, where
all fire and ambulance companies in Montgomery
County are dispatched from.
If you need the
services of the fire company, the fire dispatcher
activates pagers carried by all of our volunteers,
and the sirens on the fire stations are
activated. We are told what the nature of the calls
is, and the location of the call. Our volunteers
then respond to the stations, put on their gear, get
aboard the fire trucks, and respond to the scene.
Many times, people accidentally dial
911, or decide that they don’t need help and hang up
the phone before talking to a tele-communicator. If
you accidentally dial 911, or don’t need an
emergency service, stay on the line and tell the
operator what happened. You won’t be in any
trouble, and there is no charge for dialing 911. If
you don’t speak to a tele-communicator, the police
department will be dispatched to your location to
verify that everything is all right.
Since 1993, 911 has vastly improved the safety of
the residents of Upper Dublin by providing a very
efficient means of calling for help and getting the
needed help to you as quickly as possible.
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