Tag Archives: Wilkes-Barre Fire Department

Apr 3 2014

11 New Wilkes-Barre Fire Recruits Added

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE, PA — While Shirley Cook sat watching her grandson Jeremy being sworn in as one of the 11 new fire department recruits, she had tucked into her purse a black-and-white photo of her grandfather, who was a city fireman in the 1800s.

The photo showed a couple horse-drawn wagons outside the Northampton Street fire station. Cook, 85, of Scranton, pointed to one of the drivers, Reuben Daley, and said, “This would be his great-great-grandfather.”

Cook retrieved the photo from many she has at home and planned to make a copy for her grandson.

The equipment has since changed and so has the training that Jeremy Cook and the 10 others will undergo to be able to do their jobs of fighting fires, rescuing people from the Susquehanna River, delivering babies or facing whatever situation they’re presented with on the more than 10,000 runs annually.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/1298535/11-new-W-B-fire-recruits-added

Enhanced by Zemanta
May 12 2013

Fire Response Time Questioned In Wilkes-Barre

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE, PA — While children crawled through the city’s fire safety trailer at Kirby Park eight days ago, a homeowner on Almond Lane waiting for an engine to arrive from across town used a garden hose in an attempt to douse flames.

The fire, started by spontaneous combustion of grass clippings in a plastic recycling container climbed up to the second floor, causing damage inside and out before firefighters extinguished them.

“They got it,” said Greg Freitas, vice president of the city firefighters’ union.

But the damage could have been minimized with more firefighters and equipment available, a long-running sticking point with the International Association of Firefighters Local 104 which has seen the minimum staffing level reduced by more than one-third over a 10-year period.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news//503886/Fire-response-time-questioned-in-W-B