LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP, PA—
Fire police are on call 24 hours a day and don't get paid a dime. It is a challenging job and many local fire departments are in need of volunteers.At Colonial Park Fire Company in Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County, there are only 8 fire police volunteers. Crews say they do not have enough men and women to cover all of the emergencies.
"We would like to get more, it doesn't take as much training as a regular firefighter does," said Assistant Chief Robert Coburn, Colonial Park Fire Company.
Arthur Spevacek has been a fire policeman with Colonial Park for 9 years.
"I did 22 years in the military and when I retired and moved back to the area, I just felt like I needed to give something back to the community," said Spevacek.
Spevacek is encouraging others to sign up. He says the experience can be time consuming, but also rewarding.
"It is kind of a rush, you are going out to help somebody, assist somebody," said Spevacek.
Becoming a fire police officer does take about 160 hours of training.
"They would have to go through the highway safety training and they would have to be sworn in by the local magistrate to be able to enforce the laws, said Assistant Chief Coburn.
Anyone interested in becoming a fire police officer should contact their local fire department. For people living in the Colonial Park area, call (717) 652-8378 or go to www.colonialparkfire.org.
