By John Latimer
The Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania)
Copyright 2006 Lebanon Daily News
All Rights Reserved
Typically, firefighters receive commendations for pumping water onto burning houses.
Last night, City Council and Mayor Bob Anspach honored 36 city firefighters for pumping water out of houses during the flooding the city experienced from June 25-29.
During those stormy days at the beginning of the summer, the Lebanon Valley received nearly 10 inches of rainfall. The worst of it for the Lebanon Bureau of Fire came during a 48-hour period on June 27-28, when they responded to 15 emergency calls and 72 calls to assist with pumping water from flooded basements, according to statistics provided by the mayor’s office.
The overtime and equipment expenses for work done during the flooding cost the city about $8,000, said fire Commissioner Barry Fisher, who was among those recognized last night.
Fire Chief Larry Loeper was also among those who received a certificate of recognition. Although Loeper receives a stipend for his position, his full-time job is with Snap-On Tools in Harrisburg. During that week of flooding, he said, he and many of the volunteer firefighters would come home from their job and go directly to work assisting the city’s career firefighters who were putting in lots of overtime. In all, 21 volunteers were recognized last night.
Firefighters were the right people for the job, explained Loeper, because fire trucks are equipped with pumping equipment so water can be taken out of ponds and other sources when fire hydrants cannot be accessed.
“We were called to pump a lot of basements two or three times,” he said. “You would pump it down to a good level and then come back when it rose up again. Basically we were saving people’s property.”
Saving property is what the fire service is all about, said Councilman Dick Bleistine, a longtime volunteer firefighter and former president of the Firemen’s Association of Pennsylvania.
“Fire service is the first line of defense of any city, any township, or borough. Because without the service of the fire department, your property goes down. ... The fire service saves the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania $6 billion a year. So that’s how important you are.”
About half of the firefighters honored were present last night. Each was presented a certificate individually and shook the hand of every member of city council. Anspach was unable to attend the meeting.
In related business, council gave Fisher authorization to apply for a federal disaster emergency grant to reimburse the city for its flood-damage expenses. They include $54,000 for work done on pipes after a portion of North Partridge Street caved in, and the $8,000 in bureau of fire expenses, said Fisher.