Five Chiefs Get Together at Christmas Drill

For All of 2005 the Fort Washington Fire Company Responded to:
    644 Alarms
    Averaging 25 responders per call
    Totaling 7217 responder hours

Born in Abington Hospital in 1956, Roy Nuss spent the first two years of his life living in an apartment above the Shore Days Shopping Center on York Road in Abington.  His parents moved several times over the next few years spending the longest amount of time in a house on Whitehall Drive off of Fitzwatertown Road in Upper Moreland.  Here Roy attended grade school and high school, eventually graduating from Upper Moreland High School in 1975.  Upon graduation from UMHS, Roy attended Delaware Valley College where he received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, graduating in 1979. 

Roy began his professional career working for a small paint and coating company in New Jersey in 1979, but quickly found himself back in the area when he took a job as a chemist in 1981 working for the Quaker Chemical Company in Conshohocken.  Roy worked for the Quaker Chemical Company until 1986 when he was hired by Betz Laboratories in Trevose.  In 2006 Roy returned to the Quaker Chemical Company where he is currently employed.

Roy, the oldest of three boys, began his fire service career as a junior firefighter in the Willow Grove Fire Company in 1973.  Tom Smith and Tom Smith Jr., Roy’s uncle and cousin respectively, inspired Roy to join as they were already members of the Willow Grove Fire Company.  Roy ran with Willow Grove for the next two years until he decided to join the Fort Washington Fire Company due to his proximity to the brand new Burn Brae Sub-Station.  Since Roy joined FWFC, he has served every line officer position except for chief.  Roy was elevated to Lieutenant in 1982, serving there until he was promoted to Captain in 1985.  Roy served only one year as a Captain when he was promoted to Battalion Chief in 1986.  Then in 1988 Roy was elevated to Assistant Chief.  Roy retired from the position of Assistant Chief in 1990, but has continued to serve actively in the role of a firefighter and driver ever since.

In addition to his service as a line officer for eight years, Roy has served on numerous committees including the education & training committee and the training grounds committee.  Roy served on the board of governors for four years and held the position of Secretary of the Fort Washington Fire Company for two terms.  In 1982 Roy began working as a Montgomery County Fire Academy Instructor.  Twenty years later, Roy was elevated to the position of a State Certified Fire Academy Instructor.  He continues to teach basic fire fighting techniques at the Montgomery County Fire Academy in Conshohocken.

Roy recalls his first fire, as a junior firefighter with Willow Grove Fire Company, being an abandoned house on York Road, while his first fire with the Fort Washington Fire Company being a mutual aid run with Wissahickon Fire Company to a church on Lindenwold Avenue.  By far Roy’s most memorable fire was the Trinity Episcopal Church fire in the summer of 1986.  He vividly recalls the steeple of the church collapsing during the fire.  Roy’s favorite piece of apparatus would be the B-Model open cab 1952 Mack.

Although Roy enjoys the firehouse atmosphere, his free time is spent with his wife Cindy, of 22 years, and his two children, Bryan (20) and Julie (18).  Roy met Cindy while waiting for Billy Carroll, a onetime active member of FWFC, at the Jarrettown Hotel one evening in 1982.  Roy credits Billy, due to his tardiness that night, with the courage to approach his future wife.

While Roy has kept himself busy with his family, the Boy Scouts and biking, he and his brother Bill are both valuable sources of encouragement and knowledge within the Fort Washington Fire Company No.1.  His leadership and involvement over the years has inspired many others to keep a good work ethic and take the time to learn the skills and information necessary to perform at the highest standard, a level that the members of our community deserve.