Safety
The best call is the one we never get.
A working smoke alarm, two ways out, and a plan everyone in the house knows. That's most of it. Here's the rest.
Fall fire season
Check before you burn.
Pennsylvania's DCNR Bureau of Forestry posts county burn bans and daily wildfire danger. Before you burn leaves or brush, check the ban page and with Hegins Township.
How it works
What happens when you call 911
You call. Stay on the line.
The 911 center answers. The dispatcher asks where, what, and whether anyone is hurt. Answer the questions; the page is going out while you talk.
The call goes out.
Nobody waits at the station. Our members are volunteers who respond from home and work when they're called. Always call 911 for an emergency.
They drive to the station.
Volunteers respond from home and work to the station, put on gear and roll the first truck once a crew is aboard. This is the part that takes the minutes, and it is why we need members who live close.
The first rig is out.
The first members to reach the station take the first truck that has a crew. More members and trucks follow as they arrive, and neighboring companies are called when a fire needs them.
We stay until it's done.
Fire out, patients handed to the ambulance service, scene safe, and then back to the station to wash hoses and fill air bottles so the next call starts clean.
The honest version of "how long will it take": longer than in a city, and shorter the more volunteers we have within a few minutes of the station. If that bothers you, join.
Make a plan
Your home escape plan
Draw your home, mark two ways out of every room, pick a meeting place outside, and practice it twice a year. Print the sheet and put it on the refrigerator.
Print the escape plan sheet
A one-page grid for your floor plan with the checklist on the side. Nothing is stored; it just prints.
Open the sheetThe three rules
Smoke alarms on every level and in every bedroom, tested monthly. Two ways out of every room, and windows that open. One meeting place outside, and once you're out, stay out.
Around the house
The short list
Kitchen
Stay with what you're cooking. Keep a lid nearby; sliding it over a pan fire puts it out. Never water on grease.
Heating
Three feet between a space heater and anything that burns. Chimneys cleaned yearly. Ashes in a metal can, outside, away from the house.
Charging
Lithium batteries on a hard surface, never under a pillow or on bedding, and unplugged when full. A swollen or hot battery goes outside.
Burning
Before you burn, check the Pennsylvania DCNR burn-ban page and with your township. Never burn on a windy day.
Carbon monoxide
A CO alarm near the bedrooms, especially with gas heat, a wood stove or an attached garage. Never run a generator in a garage.
Your address
Reflective numbers at the road, visible from both directions at night. We can't help a house we can't find.