Women’s History Month Profile: Firefighter Jennifer Kingsberry

For Jennifer Kingsberry, firefighting and family are her passions. Along with husband Sean Blake, she is raising two children and volunteering with the Abington Township Fire Department (ATFD). Sean and Jennifer, who met as teenagers working at Target, have been volunteering with ATFD for 10 and eight years respectively. They both started at the Abington Fire Company, but when the … Read More

Watching Firefighters Help His Neighbors Inspired Him to Volunteer

Meet ATFD Volunteer Firefighter Ed Wagner In May 2019, Ed Wagner heard sirens and saw smoke coming from his neighbor’s house. “I was feeling absolutely helpless,” said Ed, an English teacher at Philadelphia’s Samuel Fels High School. “There was nothing I could do to help.” Then the people who could help arrived. “Firetrucks from Edge Hill, the other Abington Township … Read More

A.T.F.D. Participates in 17th Annual Pre-National Night Out Block Party Celebrations

The Abington Township Fire Department (ATFD) converged on the Target parking lot on Old York Road Aug. 8 to participate in the annual Pre-National Night Out Block Party, where visitors were able to try on firefighting gear and talk with the department volunteers who serve the community. The event serves as a precursor to the National Night Out celebrations aimed … Read More

Abington Township Fire Department (ATFD) volunteers staffed a booth at this years Willow Grove NAACPs Unity Day Celebration – an annual fair celebrating this communitys diversity and offering opportunities to both have fun and learn for everyone. Unity Day, like all community events, presents ATFD with a fantastic opportunity to give away potentially life-saving smoke/carbonmonoxide detectors, provide residents with information … Read More

Talk the Talk: Empowering Volunteer Firefighters to Recruit

In March 2015, Abington Township Fire Department (ATFD) launched a new program designed to teach our volunteers how to turn any interaction into a recruitment opportunity. The Talk the Talk workshop, co-hosted by ATFD and local communications expert Leza Raffel, taught participants conversational techniques that can be used to quickly communicate the benefits of volunteering and successfully address concerns or … Read More

Abington Community Taskforce Honors ATFD with Citizens That Care Recognition Award

The Abington Community Taskforce, a coalition of diverse organizations working together to enhance the effectiveness of programs and services for youth and their families in order to ensure a safe and caring community, this year gave its Citizens That Care Recognition Award to the Abington Township Fire Department. ATFD was honored in recognition of its “extraordinary and dedicated service to … Read More

Internationally Recognized Public Safety Organization Reaffirms Abington Township Fire Department’s Excellence

The Commission on Fire Accreditation International re-accredited the A.T.F.D. following a rigorous review of achievement in 300+ performance indicators, including fire suppression, fire fighter training and safety, and strategic planning. A.T.F.D. received its original CFAI accreditation in 2014, and is the only all-volunteer fire department in Pennsylvania to be accredited. Abington, PA… The Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) has … Read More