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ABINGTON TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPARTMENT (ATFD) HOPES TO SPARK AN INTEREST IN FIREFIGHTING
BY ALLOWING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO TRAIN FOR A DAY

ABINGTON – Thirty‐one Abington Senior High School students had the opportunity to become firefighters for a day when they participated in Service Learning Day at Abington Township Fire Department’s (ATFD) training facility May 28th.

Service Learning Day is an annual event to teach students about the importance of community involvement. It also represents a chance for the ATFD to recruit young people who will help continue the legacy of the five volunteer fire companies that make up the ATFD (Abington, McKinley, Weldon, Edge Hill and Roslyn).

“It is important to hold events like this because recruitment is so important to get people attracted to firefighting at a young age and train them,” said Chief Engineer Dave MacDonald, who is a member of Weldon Fire Company. “Then the hope is that they will want to stay in for a while. This also opens the door to let them know where we are.”

Teen‐agers interested in firefighting were able to dress in firefighting gear, crawl through a smoke‐filled room, operate hoses, extinguish fires, and participate in other related activities. For 11th‐grader John Rogalski, the experience gave him some real insight into the duties of a firefighter.

“This event gave me the chance to give more thought to if I would like to be a firefighter,” he said. “They carry really heavy equipment. I couldn’t see a thing in the fire tower smoke room drill, and it made me realize we needed to work as a team.”

Kauwan Seaton, a 10th‐grader, agreed that firefighting is challenging but he wasn’t ready to let that deter him from possibly joining.

“It is a pretty cool job to get to help a lot of people. It requires a lot of work, but I am willing to do that,” he said. “After coming to this event today, I would definitely consider doing this job.” Even teacher Jack Hoffman learned something from the experience of suiting up and following others into the smoky drill tower.

“It was intense, and I had to hang on to the student in front since I did not know where the heck I was going. It sure helped me appreciate volunteer firefighters,” he said. “Events like this help to teach the kids and myself and it is great exposure to see what it takes to be a firefighter.”

This is the fourth year in which students have visited the ATFD’s training facility to learn about the five volunteer fire companies that comprise the ATFD and what they do to prevent and fight fires.

The ATFD’s Public Safety Training Facility is located at 2200 Florey Lane in Abington. For more information about the department, visit www.abingtonfd.org.