Forty Fort Fire Department

2015 Forty Fort Volunteer Fire Company Newsletter

 

We are STILL here

The Forty Fort volunteer Fire Company wants the residents and commercial occupants of the Borough of Forty Fort to know that the volunteer Fire Company is still operating as part of the Kingston/Forty Fort Fire Department.  A consolidation of fire and EMS services in our two West Side communities was agreed upon to improve our service to the people of our towns.  The Fire Department consists of approximately 30 full-time fire/EMS professionals ably assisted by the personnel of three long-standing volunteer fire companies that have served their communities for many years.  The volunteers still rely on the people of Forty Fort to provide the means to purchase updated and new protective gear and state-of-the-art firefighting and rescue equipment.  Budgets are always tight and getting tighter and the apparatus and equipment that is necessary never comes cheap.

The Fire Company in Forty Fort has been an active participant in Borough affairs since its creation in 1905.  The Borough fathers provided the apparatus the volunteers responded with, maintained and housed the apparatus, equipment and a social area for the volunteers.  At one time the volunteer Fire Company was a social hub of the Borough, maintaining and operating bowling lanes in what is now the Community Room of the Borough Building.  This social room provided the Fire Company with a ready corps of community-minded residents who went one step further and became active members of the Fire Company, gave of their free time to train and assist in the protection of their friends and neighbors in the community.

As times changed and working in the community became working in different parts of our larger community, the pool of volunteers has grown smaller and smaller, making it difficult to keep a roster of avid volunteers available for emergency responses, making it necessary to look to consolidation to provide the kind of protection we have always been accustomed to.  The volunteer Fire Companies are always on the lookout for anyone who may be interested in volunteering their services in any way that they think may be of assistance, whether it be in the field of fighting a fire, emergency medical services, emergency management operations, or in whatever manner you think that you may be of any help to our community.  Please contact us at the Borough Building!

Concerning our “Fund Drive” letter: it includes an informational data card with pertinent residential and commercial data that we archive in computers at our stations and in our apparatus, so that we may make emergency notifications during natural and man-made emergencies/disasters.  Even if you decide that it is unnecessary to make a donation to our mutual cause, we urge you to complete this data card and forward it to us so we have the information available when and if it is needed.  Thank you for your courtesy and consideration.

 

Emergency “TO DOs” to help Emergency Services:

  • put BIG numbers on your residence (easier for us to find you)
  • light those ‘BIG’ numbers at night
  • have listings of medications available for our EMS personnel
  • hide a key outside or with a neighbor or provide a ‘code’
  • if you have a ‘medical alarm’ know how to reset it !As a means of cooperating with our Police Department and Forty Fort’s Office of Emergency Management we are providing space in this “Newsletter” for our Chief of Police to explain a public service we have been able to assist in getting up and running to provide emergency information updates for our residents: 

 

  • “Code Red” is an application for your ‘smart phone’, home computer, even a message to your home telephone; how to stay informed as to what is happening or going to occur in our town. Our Police Chief has assembled this introduction:
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CodeRED for Forty Fort Residents & Businesses

What is CodeRED and How Can You Get It?

The CodeRED system is used to send critical communications to every Forty Fort resident or business at one time, from flood evacuation notices, missing child alerts to road closings, Code RED will keep you informed about major events taking place in Forty Fort Borough.

Possible Uses:

• Severe Weather Warnings (floods, hurricanes, tornados, etc.)

• Missing Children Alerts

• Armed Robberies

•  Planned or Unplanned Outage Notifications  or Updates (Water or Electric)

• Garbage Pickup Changes

• Fraud or Scam Alerts

• Water or Electric Conservation Notices

• Ordinance Reminders

• Evacuation Notices and Routes

• HAZMAT Emergencies

• Gas Leaks

• Dangerous, Armed Individuals on the Loose

• Terrorist Threats

• Snow Emergencies

• Road Closures

• Roadwork (Paving of Streets, Sewer and Storm Drain Projects)

 • First Responder/Internal Notifications

• Official Comment Direction

• Critical Incident Call Out

• Missing Elderly, Disabled or At Risk Adults

• Bomb Threats

• Hostage Situations

• Escaped Prisoner Warnings

• Sexual Predator Alerts

• Neighborhood Crime Watch Support

• Chemical Spills

• Nuclear Hazards

• Disaster/Major Event Follow-up

• General Information (meeting reminders/changes, etc.)

• Flu Pandemics

• Viral Outbreaks

• Water Boil Advisories

• and more…

 

To obtain CodeRED so you can be informed immediately about emergencies or other types of incidents you may need to be aware of that’s happening in Forty Fort Borough, visit our website at:

http://fortyfort.org  or you can sign up directly with the CodeRED Service at:

https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/BFDA3D57E706 or if you do not have a computer:

You can contact Forty Fort Police Chief Dan Hunsinger at 570-287-8586 and he will register you for the CodeRED Alerts.

 

 

Remember to change the batteries in your smoke detectors periodically.  Do not ‘borrow’ them to make a toy or some other item work.  Always have a fresh supply of batteries available for these necessities.  Check your detectors – after 5 to 10 years they may become unreliable and need to be replaced.  Also think about installing carbon monoxide detectors if you have not already done so.  During the heating season they are especially useful, but even during warm months there may also be malfunctions of furnaces or water heaters or gas-operated clothes dryers that may lead to the production of carbon monoxide, which is an extremely dangerous addition to the air we breathe.  You may be inhaling it and feeling its dangerous effects and not be able to smell, taste or see its presence.  CO detectors will sense its presence and sound the alarm.

 

Know the Symptoms of Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning

Even though the winter months are winding down it is still important to keep acquainted with the warning signs of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.  CO is odorless, colorless, tasteless and otherwise undetectable to the human senses.  The initial symptoms of low to moderate CO poisoning include:

  • Headache &       Fatigue
  • Shortness of breath
  • Nausea &       Dizziness

 

High-level CO poisoning results in progressively more severe symptoms, including:

  • Mental confusion
  • Vomiting
  • Loss of muscular coordination
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Ultimately death

 

 

COOKING FIRE SAFETY

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of home structure fires involving cooking equipment began when cooking materials including fats, grease, cooking oil and any substance associated with grease.  These ignition factors were attributed to seventy-two percent (72%) of civilian fire deaths and seventy-seven percent (77%) of civilian injuries.  Loose clothing being ignited was also a factor in these statistics.

COOKING SAFETY TIPS

  • Wear short, close-fitting, or tightly rolled sleeves
  • Always keep a lid nearby when cooking
  • Smother flames in a small pan grease fire by carefully sliding the lid over the pan and turning off the burner. LEAVE THE PAN IN PLACE until completely cooled
  • Be sure others are getting out and there is a clear path for the way out before trying to fight a fire.
  • For oven fires, be sure to turn the oven off and keep its door closed.
  • Establish a “kid-free” zone of at least three (3) feet around any cooking equipment
  • Turn pot handles away from the stove’s edge.

 

REMEMBER:

Life safety is most important.  In many cases, the best approach is to quickly leave the home, closing doors behind you, and to call the fire department from outside your home.

 

 

 

IMPORTANT EMERGENCY SERVICES

INFORMATION INSIDE

 

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ

AND PASS ON TO OTHER

FAMILY AND OFFICE MEMBERS !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forty Fort Volunteer Fire Company

1271 Wyoming Avenue

Forty Fort  PA  18704