Like many of his firefighter brethren at Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Department, Jonathan Al-Khal has the knowledge, training, experience, safety equipment and dedication that allow him to run into a burning building when everyone else is running out.

Al-Khal has developed additional skills, though, that have widened his value to the first responder and law enforcement community in Lehigh County. Al-Khal has developed a reputation as one of the most skilled drone flight technicians in the region.

He developed those skills during an internship last year with the Lehigh County Emergency Management organization. The agency had purchased professional-grade drone equipment and

Al-Khal was asked to develop operating procedures and program guidelines from the ground up, including training with drone control equipment.

While the equipment was originally thought to have the most potential in evaluating hazardous-materials incidents from a safe distance, Al-Khal and his colleagues began to see uses for search and rescue, special operations, scene photography, tactical reconnaissance, safe building search operations and more.

“The more the team began to ask, ‘Could this be used for this or that?’ more applications became evident,” Al-Khal said.

The Salisbury Township Police Department subsequently purchased drone equipment and Al-Khal’s self-developed expertise has helped the police department deploy its equipment for public awareness opportunities and practical tactical uses.

Al-Khal was called to assist with drone equipment at a dangerous tactical law enforcement police standoff situation in Upper Saucon Township in June and to the recent search operation for an Alzheimer’s patient who wandered away from a secured unit in Salisbury Township in August.

Al-Khal’s journey in the first responder realm began in the early 2000s. His older brother, Adam (now a deputy fire chief with Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Department), had become involved as a volunteer firefighter, but as a 12 year old, Jonathan could not see the value of “volunteering to run into a burning building.”

“As I started to hang around the fire house as the younger brother, I began to see a dedication between firefighters and a desire to help people in the community that was pervasive,” Al-Khal said. He signed up as a junior firefighter as soon as he turned 16 years of age.

He began participating in the training modules that would certify him for increasingly more fireground events. Additionally, he began training as an emergency medical technician to give him additional opportunities to “just help people.”

“I just love what I’m doing,” Al-Khal said. “I could literally work 90 hours a week if I can feel I’m helping people.”

The camaraderie between first responders provides an emotional boost for Al-Khal. “When you are going into a burning building with only a fellow firefighter’s hand on your shoulder for support, you literally have to trust them with your life. That trust really makes a difference in how you regard your teammates.”

As a Penn State graduate with a degree in criminology and sociology, Al-Khal ultimately hopes for a wider career in a local or state law enforcement capacity. “But, the experience and background as a volunteer and paid duty as an emergency medical technician, and with the county’s emergency management organization, is providing me just what I need for a wider public service career,” Al-Khal said.

Recalling his youthful skepticism over the value of volunteer first responder service, Al-Khal is now a staunch recruiter for his volunteer firefighter organization.

“Come out and give it a shot,” he urges. “You don’t know your capabilities, or the satisfaction you will feel, until you give it a try.”