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The History of Beech Creek – Blanchard Volunteer Fire Company I have often sat at the fire hall and listened to stories and some of our members reminiscing about past calls and days gone by. Some stories are tragic while others can be some what entertaining. We poke fun at each other when someone has a mishap and we console each other when the aftermath of a fatal call can be more than someone can bear. The brotherhood that exists in a fire company is hard to explain to someone that has never been a part of it. We laugh together, we cry together, and no matter the circumstances, will lay down our lives for a fellow brother or someone we have never met. Through listening to stories I have come to understand that the Beech Creek – Blanchard Volunteer Fire Company has a rich history worth remembering and passing on to future generations. Even though we would be considered a small community volunteer fire company, we were leaders in the nation providing emergency medical response and unprecedented pre-hospital care to our residents and many other outside communities. Many of our current and past members have gathered a wealth of information pertaining to fire company history. It is our hope that we can collect as much information as possible and include it here. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed gathering old memorabilia and documenting our history.
Out of Tragedy, a Fire Company was Born Fire fighting began in the 1930’s in Beech Creek and Blanchard with neighbor helping neighbor. Tom Kessinger had a Model T Ford pickup truck that had a wooden bed on the back of it that was used to haul various items. In the box, Tom kept some hose and some buckets. This was the extent of firefighting in the Beech Creek and Blanchard area. No organized fire company existed at this time. On a cold winter morning tragedy struck. Dawn was just beginning to break when word came that the Baney house (near where Armstrong Industries is today) east of Beech Creek was on fire. After getting the truck started and a crew lined up, the truck with Tom Kessinger at the wheel arrived at the house to find it fully engulfed in flames. Delbert Baney threw two of his children from an upstairs window to save them, however they were unable to get to one boy’s room. Dale Baney died in that fire. This tragedy seemed to be the catalyst that sparked the need for an organization trained and equipped to fight fires. A group of men including Russell Spangler and William Vonada from Blanchard and Thomas Kessinger and David Packer from Beech Creek aroused enough interest to form the Beech Creek – Blanchard Volunteer Fire Company. The first official meeting was held at the Beech Creek School building on October 19, 1938. The following minutes were recorded by George F. Hess.
During the second meeting elections were held for officers and administrative positions for the fire company. These individuals were the founding members and first decision makers.
Our First Fire Truck With the fire company now formed and officials elected, the next step was to obtain a fire truck. On March 16 of 1939, Fire Chief Tom Kessinger and David Packer drove to Smith’s Garage on 308 North Main Street in Muncy to purchase a used feed truck. This 1931 Model B Ford feed truck was purchased for $200 and was converted to be the first real fire truck in the Beech Creek - Blanchard area.
The members took steel pipe which was mounted on the back, formed it around and down for railings, and painted the truck red. Also purchased at this time were 1000’ of 3” hose, 300’ of 1 ½” Hose, a ladder, buckets, an axe, and other equipment as required by Underwriters Association.
A water and hydrant system was soon installed in the borough as well. The high pressure carried in those hydrants brought new meaning to fire protection and brought us into the modern age. The first truck was housed in Tom Kessinger’s garage (William Kessinger’s home on Main Street in Beech Creek currently). This was a suitable home as long as it didn’t snow too much or the driveway didn’t ice up. Under these conditions getting the truck on the street was nearly impossible. With a water system in place and a fire truck in service, an application was placed with Underwriters Association for a reduction on residents insurance rates. An inspector came and gave an Excellent rating and said that the company was adequate to meet the needs of fire protection. The excellent rating lowered insurance rates approximately 53%, allowing area residents to receive refund checks on their insurance. Many of these refunds were donated to the fire company to help pay for the equipment. During these first years the company prospered and grew to 70 members.
Our First Fire House In 1941, largely through the efforts of David Packer, three hundred dollars in gifts and one dollar per member was raised to purchase a lot upon which to build a fireman’s hall. A parcel near the Beech Creek Post Office was purchased for $250 from the George Hess estate. At that time, sufficient funds were not available to build a fire hall. During World War II, no progress was made in building the Fire Company. From 1944 until 1947, no elections for officers were held. Beginning in the summer of 1947, a reorganization was begun, bringing us into the modern age. At this time the Beech Creek – Blanchard Volunteer Fire Company reorganized and the following officers were elected:
Our membership soon grew to 150 members. Plans were developed to erect a two story building 32' x 50' of concrete blocks. The Architect, J.L. Morin, added ten feet to the length. Once the plans were submitted to the Pa. Department of Labor, final approval would not be given until an additional six feet were added to the building width to accommodate a fire escape. The plans now called for a building 38' x 60' which was too large for the lot it was to be build upon. A new lot was purchased right down the street from Fred Salisbury. Construction began in August of 1948, and the building was occupied for business in February of 1949. A new fire chief had also been elected. Donald Rupert served as fire chief from October of 1948 until January of 1958.
Ladies Auxiliary was Formed In 1949 The Beech Creek - Blanchard Fire Company Auxiliary was formed and grew to 30 women. At that time the following officers were elected:
Dues were set at $.60 with an
entrance fee of $.50. Any lady could join and they held their
meetings the fourth Monday of the month. To this day they have
continued to be an outstanding asset to the company. They
provide help at all Fire Co. functions and have provided extensive
financial support to help with the purchase of equipment. An
early example of financial support came in 1981 when they donated
$1,300 for the purchase of a portable radio and $400 for a low level
strainer (which is still in use today). In 1983 the Ladies
Auxiliary also donated $1,500 towards the purchase of an air pack
and saw. Beech Creek - Blanchard Fire Company Provides Emergency Medical Services In 1953, the Fire Company purchased a Packard Ambulance (pictured above) and began to provide emergency medical service. With our developing emergency medical program, the company began accepting women as active fireman. This was a first for our area.
In 1954 our first fire truck was retired and a new purpose built engine was added to the company. We purchased a 1954 R190 International. This engine featured a John Bean High Pressure 800 PSI 750 GPM series - parallel pump and a 500 gallon booster tank. This engine was placed in service in 1954 and remained in service until is was sold at a Grant Miller auction in 1994. The Federal Q "Eye in the Sky" siren on the fender was salvaged prior to the auction and now resides on our current tanker, 9-4.
An additional fire truck was also purchased (unsure of the date at this time) to be used as a reserve engine. This truck was a 1945 International. It saw limited service fighting fire, but was an outstanding convention piece as the below photo shows. Those were the days! Take note of the hose reel shown at the bottom of this photo. This hose reel was salvaged prior to disposing of this unit and is now used as the forestry hose reel on our brush unit, 9-10.
On October 1, 1966 Beech Creek - Blanchard purchased its first purpose built tanker for $7,319.
A 1966 Ford Super Duty, the tanker featured a 1,250 gallon tank with a rear dump, a 350 GPM PTO pump, a booster reel, and a hose bed to carry supply hose. This unit was placed in service in 1966 and was replaced in 2002 with our current Mack tanker, 9-4.
A New Era in Emergency Services In September of 1963 the company traded in it's ten year old Packard Ambulance for a 1964 Model International pictured below. The purchase price for the new ambulance was $6,200 with trade in.
Later a second Cadillac Ambulance was added to the fleet. During this time Beech Creek - Blanchard provided emergency medical services to the newly opened Interstate 80 and as far away as Loganton, Woolrich, and Avis.
In the 1970's the Ambulance Association of the Fire Company attained a new high. Through the instruction of Dr. John Crisanti, Director of Emergency Services at Lock Haven Hospital, they developed medical skills equaled by few volunteers in the nation! This program later developed into the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-A) program. On February 7th, 1974 the first class of Emergency Medical Technicians in the area graduated from the Lock Haven Hospital. 17 fireman were certified as EMT-As. One from Avis, One from Lock Haven, Three from Flemington, and Twelve from Beech Creek - Blanchard.
A Chevy Ambulance was purchased in the 1970's. This unit was added in addition to the Cadillac. Our EMT's wore white jumpsuits as part of their uniform when responding to calls. Notice in the picture below, the Pa. Department of Health EMT patches on the jumpsuits are the same ones we wear today.
EMT's from Beech Creek - Blanchard were also featured on WPSX-TV when a mock disaster was filmed at the Lock Haven Hospital to illustrate the use of the PA State Police Helicopter to transport accident victims to the hospital where the trained teams of emergency room physicians, ambulance attendants, and nurses work together. Prior to the county wide dispatch system, Bill Kessinger served as principal dispatcher. He would receive the call for assistance and then he would call the ambulance crews at their homes to respond to the station.
PAST FIRE CHIEFS OF THE BEECH CREEK - BLANCHARD VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY This information was gathered from meticulous research of the company's past meeting minutes, old newspaper articles, and interviewing a couple of past fire chiefs from earlier years. Until 1952 elections were held in October of each year; after 1952 nominations and elections were held in November and the elected individual assumed office on the 3rd Monday of January. Another interesting fact is that there were no elections from 1944 until the reorganization of the fire company in the summer of 1947 due to the war. Matters of the fire company were handled by the officers during that timeframe due to the war effort.
APPARATUS FROM OUR PAST
MORE HISTORY COMING SOON
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