Four new fire police were sworn in recently by North Whitehall Supervisors’ Chairman Ron Heintzelman at the Neffs Volunteer Fire Company.

Capt. Don Norder reports Barry Buchecker, Paul Feliceangeli, Alan Fulep and J. Barry Holmes completed the stringent training required for fire police in North Whitehall.

All four men recently completed all the required training and were presented with their fire police badges.

Norder and the new fire police are all members of the Neffs Volunteer Fire Company where they are stationed.

Even though each fire company has its own fire police, they often function as a team.

“We all work together in a major incident,” Norder said.

Norder explained the responsibilities of fire police.

They provide traffic control at accident scenes and set up detour signs if the road is closed.

When fire trucks are dispatched, fire police go to intersections and stop traffic to provide safe crossing for the fire apparatus to pass through.

“At the scene of a fire or accident, it is our job to protect firefighters,” Norder said. “We stand in a position to make sure the vehicles passing by do not hit the firefighters. They may not be aware of the traffic going around them.”

Fire police also handle crowd control to keep people away from any dangerous area.

If wires come down from a storm or any other occurrence, fire police set up barricades to close the road until North Whitehall crews or PennDOT arrives.

Norder noted fire police also work with media reporters and photographers.

“They want to take pictures and get information,” Norder said.

“We welcome them and try to provide a safe area for them to do their job.”

Sometimes other municipalities request help for traffic control at parades, and North Whitehall fire police provide assistance after receiving approval from township representative Brenda Norder.

Before anyone can become a fire police, he or she must take a 16-hour course called “Introduction to Fire Service” and a second 16-hour course, “Basic Fire Police.”

They must take an online study on hazardous materials awareness and at least two online courses from the National Incident Management System.

Fire police must also take an eight hour CPR course.

“It is difficult to get volunteers,” Norder said. “The training is so much more intense than years ago.”

He noted in 1980 there were 300,000 fire police in Pennsylvania and now there are only 38,000.

“It’s dwindling very rapidly,” said the captain.

When Norder started with the fire police in Neffs in 1988, there were 88 calls for service. Last year, there were 260 calls.

Norder completed all of the courses offered by NIMS which included legal concepts for fire police and communication and listening skills.

Some of the NIMS materials include active shooter situations, Norder said.

North Whitehall currently has about 14 fire police at township fire companies.

John Bull is fire police captain at Laurys Station, and Karl Haas is captain in Schnecksville.

George Burda is Norder’s lieutenant in Neffs.

“We’re dedicated, trained, and prepared to solve any problems we face,” Norder said.