In February
the Fort Washington
Fire Company responded to:
53 Alarms
Averaging
17
responders per call
Totaling 379
responder hours
For All of 2005 the Fort
Washington Fire Company Responded to:
601 Alarms
Averaging 18 responders per call
Totaling 4982 responder hours
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Profile Of The Month
By
Andrew Rathfon
Each month we profile one of
the many Volunteers that make up the Fort Washington
Fire Company. This month we are highlighting
Jeffrey Fogel
Meet Jeff "Doc" Fogel
Born in New York City in 1954, Dr. Jeffrey “Doc”
Fogel spent the first eighteen years of his life in
the town of Valley Stream, Long Island. Upon
graduation from high school, Doc attended Syracuse
University where he received a Bachelor of Science
in biology and psychology. Jeff then proceeded to
enroll in the Upstate Medical Center, also in
Syracuse, New York, where he spent the next four
years obtaining his medical degree. Following
medical school, Doc began his residency in
pediatrics at the University of Connecticut. In
1983 Dr. Fogel moved to Maple Glen where he began
working as a pediatrician with Abington Pediatrics.
In 1987, Doc decided to open his own practice,
creating Fort Washington Pediatrics which was
located on Pennsylvania Avenue until he relocated
the office in 1993 to New York Drive. In 1995 Doc
sold the practice to a hospital corporation, but
continued to practice there until 2002. Jeff is
currently employed as a pediatrician with Pediatric
Medical Associates which have offices in Abington
and East Norriton.
Jeff met his wife Jean in 1979, marrying her in
1983. Between them, they have two sons, Dave and
Rob. Dave, who recently finished his tour of duty
with the Navy, is attending school in San Diego.
Dave aspires to be a music producer. However, as a
member of the naval reserves, Dave is most likely
going to be redeployed to Iraq in the near future.
Dave is part of a naval dive unit that dismantles
underwater mines. Rob, the younger of the two boys,
is currently a junior at the University of
Pittsburgh enrolled in the pre-law program. Rob is
also a member of the Fort Washington Fire Company
No.1, joining as a junior member in 2001.
Doc joined the Fort Washington Fire Company No.1 in
March of 1989. Jeff spent the first few years of
his tenure as a firefighter, eventually being
approved as a driver in 1991. Doc has been
extremely active in the administrative side of the
firehouse. In his eighteen years with the fire
company, Doc has chaired the fire prevention
committee, personnel committee, membership &
investigation committee, finance committee, and
accreditation committee. Jeff has also served on
the IT committee, co-chaired the standard of cover
committee, and acted as the treasurer of the Active
Worker’s Association. Doc is currently the Vice
President of the company, a position he has held
since 2006.
Doc’s first call with the Fort Washington Fire
Company No.1 was a car fire in North Hills, while
his first fire was the Ambler Warehouse fire.
Jeff’s most memorable fire was a town house fire in
Maple Glen in which he went to the second floor for
a search and wound up partially falling through the
floor of a bedroom into the kitchen, where the fire
started. Doc’s favorite piece of apparatus is the
old 88-11 Mack Aerial Scope.
While Doc occasionally gears up and rides the
apparatus in the role of a firefighter, he can
typically be found driving the first out engine.
Out of the entire membership, Jeff is perennially
one of our top ten responders in terms of the number
of calls he has answered in a given year. Six times
he has earned top five honors. While these awards
are a point of pride for Doc, his proudest moment
was when his fellow members decided to present him
with the Haggar Award, a trophy given to the
firefighter that has gone above and beyond the call
of duty.
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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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Ladies
Auxiliary / Spring Flea Market
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By
Dawn Hurt
The Ladies Auxiliary of the Fort Washington Fire
Company welcomes new members anytime. Most members
are wives or mothers of firefighters but any Upper
Dublin resident, age 18 and older, is welcome to
join. We meet on the last Tuesday of every month
except July & August. Our meetings our held at the
firehouse on Summit Avenue in Fort Washington; we
begin at 7:30 p.m.
Our main focus is to support the firefighters both
financially through various fund-raisers and as
"goodwill ambassadors". We help by handing out
literature at the Fire Expo in September, serving
food at “Housing Ceremonies” for new equipment, and
various other activities the company may become
involved in.
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Appliances and Fire Hazards
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By
Howard Schmuckler
Never leave home or go to bed with an appliance
still turned on. If you must leave, turn the
appliance off until you return. Keep the area
around appliances free of all combustible
materials. Appliances should be installed,
inspected and serviced by a qualified person; if you
are not qualified, hire a professional. Inspections
should be performed on a regular basis, and service
performed as needed.
Do
not place synthetic fabrics, rubber, plastic or foam
products in a clothes dryer, as they can retain heat
and catch on fire. The leading cause of home
clothes dryer fires is the lack of proper
maintenance, with a build up of lint as the most
common cause.
Clean the lint from the screens, filters and drum
after every use. Dryers must be vented to the
outside with an aluminum or galvanized sleeve, never
a plastic sleeve. The vent should never lead to the
basement or attic areas. A clothes dryer must be
plugged into its own electrical outlet that has
adequate capacity for the dryer.
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By Howard Schmuckler
Properly marking your address can save valuable time
in your receiving emergency assistance, whether you
need police, fire, rescue, or medical help. Most
people have become frustrated at one time or
another, when they could not locate an address that
they were looking for. Imagine yourself, operating
an emergency vehicle, and trying to locate an
address to provide emergency help, but you cannot
find it. Unfortunately, this happens more than you
might think.
Whether it is your home, your business, where you
vacation or anyplace else, many times an address is
missing, and at other times the address is not easy
to read because of the sign’s condition or the
location where the address is placed. Often times a
tree, bush or flowers block the address from view.
Periodically, prune all vegetation. Look at your
address from the street. If you cannot read your
address, then emergency personnel also cannot read
it, and they will be delayed in getting to you.
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Opticon Traffic
Control |
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By Bob Lester
You are driving toward a familiar intersection with
a green light ahead when suddenly it changes to red
much before you expected. That may be because an
emergency vehicle is approaching the intersection
from another direction responding to a 911 call.
Upper Dublin Township, as well as other surrounding
communities, has been equipping traffic lights with
a device known by its trade name “Opticon”. The
Opticon is a traffic pre-emption device that allows
emergency vehicles to change a traffic light to
green in the direction that they are traveling while
all other directions turn to yellow then red. The
Opticon works by transmitting a coded flashing beam
to a receiver mounted on the traffic light. When the
Opticon receives the signal it begins to change
traffic lights so that only the emergency vehicle
has the green light. After the signal has changed,
the Opticon then flashes a light back to the
emergency vehicle so that the operator knows the
Opticon is working.
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