Company statistics from the latest fire marshal's report, delivered Sept. 7 (2010) to the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners.

SANATOGA PA – From a public perspective, the biggest month of the year for the Sanatoga and Ringing Hill fire companies – the all-volunteer organizations that protect Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township residents from fire, accidents and other hazards – is only 13 days away.

October is National Fire Prevention Month, specifically chosen because the Great Chicago Fire that engulfed and destroyed a large portion of the Illinois city occurred Oct. 9, 1871. Within it is Fire Prevention Week, observed this year from Oct. 3-7. That’s when the men and women of both companies will be on the road, teaching Pottsgrove School District students and township home owners about what they do, how they do it and, frankly, how much they would prefer to do it less.

Ringing Hill volunteers will bring equipment and trucks to Pottsgrove schools during the week, according to a report submitted last week (Sept. 7, 2010) by Fire Marshal Lew Babel to the township Board of Commissioners. Visits to child day care facilities and private schools will be handled this year by Sanatoga volunteers.

In addition, members of both companies will be involved in public presentations scheduled for:

• Oct. 2 (Saturday) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Home Depot, 295 Armand Hammer Blvd., Pottstown PA;
• Oct. 7 (Thursday) from 7-9 p.m. in the Suburbia Shopping Center, 86 Glocker Way, Pottstown; and
• Oct. 10 (Sunday) from noon-4 p.m. at the Limerick Fire Company (Station 54), 390 W. Ridge Pike, Limerick PA.

Those tasks are in addition to their regular duties, which include monthly training, assisting community organizations, and providing emergency and firefighting assistance, Babel’s report noted.

During July 2010, the most recent month in which statistics for both companies were available (see the table at top), the township’s combined pool of firefighting volunteers put in a total of 574 man hours, the equivalent of two full-timers working 9-1/4 hours a day for the 31-day period without receiving a dime of pay.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Sept. 7):

• Township Firefighters Prepare For October Presentations
• Lower Pottsgrove Police Will Take Back Prescription Drugs
• Green, Or Maybe Now Brown, Grass Still A Hause Ave. Problem
• Lower Pottsgrove Officer Chosen For FBI Academy
• Township Approves Planning Map Changes
• Commissioners OK Tax-Reduction District Research
• ‘Patient Investigator’ Township’s Officer Of The Year
• Lower Pottsgrove To PennDOT: Good Job, Guys
• Township Examines Tax-Break District Potential

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