Copyright 2006 Tribune Review Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
By RON PAGLIA
Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.)
As students at California University of Pennsylvania, Justin McCrory, Jamison Roth, Andrew Egut, Tanner Lowmaster, James Grazier and Rob Sheets understand and appreciate the value of a well-rounded education.
That’s why they share an affinity for their roles with the California Volunteer Fire Department. McCrory, Sheets and Grazier are residents of California Borough and regular members of the fire company. Egut, Lowmaster and Roth are part of the organization’s Student Membership Program, which allows university students to volunteer with CVFD while they are away from their home departments.
“It’s an excellent program,” Capt. John Mosher, of the California Volunteer Fire Department, said of the student membership concept. “These young men are assets to our department and the program has been advantageous to our service to the community. They provide additional manpower for the incidents to which we respond and are usually available during the daylight hours, when many of our regular members are working.”
The California fire unit has 32 active members, said Mosher, 34, a firefighter in California for 16 years. The department covers 19.2 square miles of territory, including California University’s sprawling campus, in responding to alarms in California, Coal Center and outlying towns such as Granville, Smallwood and part of Daisytown.
Veteran area firefighter Tom Hartley Jr. leads the line officers as fire chief, a position he’s held since 1981.
“Tom is an excellent leader,” Mosher said. “He was chief when I joined the company and he has some 30 years of experience as a fireman.”
Sheets is a third-generation firefighter in the borough and McCrory also has a family link to the department. His father, Bruce McCrory, is president of the company and his brother, Brian McCrory, is second assistant chief.
“In our age of heroes being sports stars, musicians, actors, politicians and others who sometimes are not the best role models, it is inspiring to have people who do what they love simply for a greater good,” Justin McCrory said. “They don’t do their jobs in a stadium filled with cheering fans. They don’t do it for money or fame. They simply try to make a difference in the world. That is something worth believing in, and I am glad I have been graced with the opportunity to be part of it.”
McCrory, a firefighter for nearly seven years, is a dual pre-med and psychology major with a chemistry minor at California University.
“Although we encourage our members to excel academically, it is often difficult to find a balance between work and study,” McCrory said. “Often, we are forced to sacrifice a homework assignment or a social engagement to fulfill our obligations to the department.”
Egut, a sophomore at California University seeking bachelor’s degrees in meteorology and in geographic information systems and emergency management, is grateful for the focus on education.
“The department stand on my studies is that school comes first,” Egut said. “That’s good, because my education is very important.”
Egut’s background in firefighting has its genesis in his hometown of Brecksville, Ohio. It was there he became a volunteer as a fire explorer in 2003 and received his Firefighter One certification on Oct. 12, 2004. Egut has been a student member of the California Volunteer Fire Department for a little more than a year.
Lest anyone think that a firefighter’s duties are limited to responding to alarms at all hours of the day and night, Mosher emphasized that learning is also a vital aspect of the assignment.
“It’s a lot of hard work, more than just being available to fight fires,” Mosher said. “There’s a considerable amount of training that goes into it. Rules and regulations change frequently and our guys need to be up to date on anything and everything that will help them do their jobs as firemen in a more efficient and safe manner. They are required to complete 100 hours of training on a variety of topics, and we also provide instructions on dealing with hazardous materials, first aid, CPR and EMT-paramedic procedures.
“This does make it difficult to recruit new volunteers at times,” Mosher continued. “You truly have to be committed to every facet of being a fireman. You have to be involved and willing to learn. Not everyone makes it.”
The California Volunteer Fire Department has worked in partnership with California University for many years as part of its annual Summer Fire School, which draws firefighters from throughout the region for rigorous training. They also have a “burn house,” near the university’s Roadman Park a couple of miles from the main campus, that is used for training.
“We enjoy an excellent relationship with the university and the students,” Mosher said. “Yes, California is a college town but it’s not like what is depicted on television in places like Morgantown, W.Va., and elsewhere. We’ve never had any major problems or rowdiness. I think there’s a mutual respect factor. The kids know we have a job to do, a very serious job, and we recognize them as being part of our community.”
While dedication is required of every firefighter, students in the program must have an increased sense of commitment. They must not only balance their everyday lives with duties of the department, they also have to fulfill school obligations. Roth is a prime example.
A senior gerontology major, he already graduated from the Physical Therapy Assistant program at Cal U and plans to attend graduate school next year. In addition to academics and being a firefighter, Roth also is a member of the university’s hockey team and president of the Hockey Club. He has been a firefighter for four years and was a junior firefighter for two years before that. He got his start with the West Ridge Hose Company in his hometown of Erie and has been volunteering for the California VFD since the Fall 2002 semester.
Lowmaster is the newest member of the Student Membership program. A freshman technology education major, he has been a firefighter for four years and a certified emergency medical technician for one year. Before volunteering in California, he was active with the fire department in Punxsutawney, Jefferson County. He has been in the California program for only two months but says he has gained “valuable life-saving skills” throughout his total experiences in firefighting.
Grazier, another regular member of the California Fire Department, is a sophomore criminal justice major at the university. He is completing his one-year probation period with the department.
Sheets, also a regular member of the department, is a criminal justice major at the university. He has been a firefighter for two years.
Like involvement in any organization, strong relationships have developed among the men in the program. Roth says they have become, in some respects, “a small family.”
“I consider the CVFD a brotherhood, just like a fraternity or a club,” Egut said.
But Justin McCrory said there is one aspect that changes the level of this association.
“On the job we have to put not only our trust, but also our lives, in the hands of the firemen beside us,” McCrory said.
Participants in the Student Membership Program also have an opportunity to learn about the tradition and history of the California Volunteer Fire Department and be part of its growth.
Mosher, for instance, noted that the company recently discovered and repurchased its original truck, a 1923 American LeFrance model.
“It’s being refurbished and rehabilitated right now, and we hope to have it ready for permanent display at our new fire station,” Mosher said.
That new facility, under construction along Route 88 at the top of Wood Street, is expected to be completed and opened “within a couple of months,” Mosher said.
When it does, the California volunteers will move from the station they’ve occupied at the corner of Wood and Water streets since 1958. The original fire station was located along Third Street in the area now occupied by the Kwik Fill service station and convenience store. It was razed many years ago.
Completion of the new fire station will write another chapter in the long and colorful history of California Borough and its volunteer firefighters. California University students have long been part of that narrative, and those who double as firefighters enjoy a unique place in the legacy.