OUR HISTORY |
Engine 250 & Tanker 150 outside our old station |
An aerial view of our old station |
The Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company was organized in September of 1952, after a very costly fire in Penn Township. It was chartered in March of 1955, "To Serve and Protect the Lives and Property of our Citizens". The first company meetings were held in the Centerville School.
In the Spring of 1957, a firehouse was constructed on Pine Road in Huntsdale. The first piece of apparatus was an old Friendship truck from Carlisle. A 1,250 gallon Tanker truck was then placed into service shortly thereafter. In 1961, a 500 GPM Fire Engine was purchased from the Martinsburg Fire Company in Pennsylvania and placed into service.
In a series of rapid changes that followed, equipment and services were upgraded. In 1973, a QRS unit was organized to respond to medical assist calls in our area. This was the first such unit in Cumberland County.
Other equipment that we have used in our past history include: a 1970 Ward LaFrance engine, a 1979 Pierce Rescue/Utility vehicle, and a brush truck custom built in 1992 from a Dodge military chassis.
After enlarging our original building in 1970, a 30 acre tract of land was purchased on Pine Road, just west of Huntsdale. A 17,000 square foot building was constructed and it was occupied in July of 1983. The mortgage burning for the facility took place on August 29th, 1993, retiring the 30 year mortgage twenty years ahead of schedule. We then constructed a 5,600 square foot addition to get our present station configuration.
Several pavilions, restrooms and storage facilities were also constructed for use at our annual fair, which runs in the beginning of August every year.
The present members of Company 50 look to the past with respect for the members whose decisions have brought us to where we are today, striving constantly to improve and provide the best for those that we serve. |
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A LITTLE MORE ABOUT US |
The Penn Township Volunteer Fire Company is located in the south-central region of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Our department is 100% volunteer, no members receive any type of pay or compensation for their services. We primarily provide services to Penn, Dickinson and Cooke Townships, but assist other townships as well.
While we are a mostly rural community, our population demographics provide for a unique and quite diverse incident log. Our department covers everything from agricultural properties to villages of 20-30 homes, a long stretch of Interstate 81, and vast areas of Michaux State Forest. Our members are well trained in several areas of expertise, which allows us to handle this call diversity in a consistent, professional manner. Our community, like most in the region, is growing at a very fast pace. This provides some challenges for the future and is reflected in the multi-task configuration of our current apparatus fleet.
Our community is very important to us and provides outstanding support to our organization's efforts. We are funded via our own fund raising efforts. Our services would not be available without this high level of support from our friends and community. |
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