You may have passed the Shrewsbury Volunteer Fire Company and wondered?
Who are the Volunteers?
You may be surprised to know that none of us are paid for any of the support we give the community. All of us, for whatever personal reasons, one day decided “I want to make a difference.”
Some of us experienced the help from a fire company and wanted to give back. Maybe some of us just wanted to know the community and help however we can? Some of us are paid Firefighters from other areas. Some of us are younger looking to grow in a firefighting career. Some of us are retired and wanted to make a difference. Some of us have full time jobs in completely different fields. But we all have one thing in common, on your worst day we will do our best to be there to help make a difference however we can.
Where are they?
This place is empty most of the time. What is the deal… We work full-time jobs and have families. We train when we can we respond when needed, but we normally don’t hang around. The good news is our community is relatively safe, That is thanks to all of us in the community doing our part.
What things are they doing?
We have fundraisers, a large portion of our time is devoted to raising funds to pay for the equipment, training, and maintenance. I know everyone pays taxes and some of that comes to the Department, but the more money we raise the less taxes we all pay. (we hope).
What training is involved in Volunteering? This depends on what you can do and how you want to help…
Do you want to help us with fundraisers? We have several events that require help setting up things, planning events, running games, directing traffic, cleaning, cooking, and serving food. The list goes on and on.
Do you want to help with public safety? We visit schools and have events that get information to the community to make it a safe place.
Do you want to help with Cadets? The good new is our Cadets want to learn, and they are the future of our Fire Department and the community. What better way to help grow our community then instilling a sense of safety and helpfulness to our younger Generation.
Do you want to help the Fire Police? This type of work is required to keep the public and First Responders safe. Scene safety: we need to keep vehicles and pedestrians out of unsafe areas and away from events that could be dangerous to us, our patients and the public. Training is required but can be less physical. Be advised, people love the Fire Department until we block the road. We don’t want to slow you down, but we need to keep the community safe.
Do you want to be a Firefighter?
I can say for experience the training is physically demanding but very rewarding. The training that York County Fire School has is a large part of it. The teachers can be firm, but this is life or death. The good news is it is not an all or nothing type thing. You can start off with just basic support and work your way Firefighting is not all we do. We can be called to a rescue, car accidents, farm accidents, and many other things in times of need. We train for just about it all, (well sometimes we can be creative). From getting a ring off a finger to well you name it. The station has weekly training sessions to keep our skills up. Our surrounding stations share training events so we have the opportunity to train with our neighboring fire departments.
Is it safe? Well, we are as safe as we can be. We do our best to train to be as safe as possible and knowing what not to do is as important as knowing what to do. Our equipment is well maintained and checked often. We watch each other’s back and keep it as safe as we can.
Can I help? Come on down, we can use your help. If you have time, great, if not, come join us at the Carnival, Circus, Car shows, Fall Fest, Golf tournament, and/or another event we have. At the end of the day all the work we do is for our community, yeah that’s right, for You!
About myself, I joined Shrewsbury Volunteer Fire Department a little over 2 years ago. I have a full time Job, not in public safety. I have lived in the Township for just over 20 years. When I started coming to the station, it was just to help-out doing whatever an over 50-year-old can do. All I can say is, I got hooked. I love helping and training is hard. But it needs to be. I pushed myself to get outside my comfort zone. I volunteer a little over 400 hours a year. The time consists of Training, Fundraising, Meetings, Maintenance and yes running calls. I am not posting my name, that is not why I am doing this. I guess I am just doing this to make a difference.
