Copyright 2006 P.G. Publishing Co.
By JAN ACKERMAN
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
In a world where volunteer fire companies often can’t seem to garner much support from local merchants, Chief Ron Gruber knows that the Whitehall Fire Company he heads is very fortunate.
He said the fire company, with 40 active members, has a good friend in the Caste Village Merchants Association. The proprietors of Frank’s Shoes and the manager of the state liquor store led efforts to raise about $12,000 for the fire department in the past two years through two annual events, a bike run in August and a super car cruise in September.
Chief Gruber said his department used the donations, plus money from its general fund, to purchase 25 hand-held radios at a cost of $17,000.
“We just bought them a month ago, right at the beginning of the year,” said Chief Gruber, who wanted to publicly thank the merchants for their help.
“It is a huge step for the fire company,” he said.
In the past, only lieutenants and chiefs were able to carry the radios, which Chief Gruber said can save lives. He said the new radios have identifiers, which can help locate a firefighter who may be in trouble.
“Communications is a key issue in fighting fires,” he said. “They found that out in the World Trade Center (Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack) where communication was a problem.”
The volunteer fire department has two stations, one in Caste Village and one on Route 51.
For the past two years, Vince and Tony Bonacci, owners of Frank’s Shoes, initiated a bike run in August that resulted in $6,800 in donations.
“We like to keep the money in the community,” Tony Bonacci said.
Likewise, Don Brown, general manager of the state liquor store, organized a Super Car Cruise for the past two Septembers. That event raised about $5,000, which was donated to the fire department.
“The Whitehall fire department has been very gracious to us,” said Mr. Brown, who said the merchants wanted to return the favor.