News/Events Lingohocken Fire Company news and upcoming events: 2008 Pancake Breakfast Lingohocken Fire Company Pancake Breakfast will be held Sun 9/7 from 8a-1p at the Wycombe Station.   Lingohocken Receives Federal Recruitment/Retention Grant On April 11, 2008, the Lingohocken Fire Co. was notified that we are receiving a $102,000 federal SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response http://www.firegrantsupport.com/safer/) grant for membership recruitment/retention.  Lingohocken applied for this grant to initiate a Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP) for all of our existing and new members, develop a membership brochure, hold membership open houses, purchase new membership recruitment signs, and update our website for membership recruitment. The grant applies over the next 4 years and is 100% federally funded.  Several other Bucks County Fire Cos. have also been awarded these grants, including: Bristol Fire Co. ($225,700), Langhorne-Middletown Fire Co. ($74,550), and Sellersville Fire Co. ($568.700).   Lingohocken Purchases New Command Vehicle Through Fred Beans Fleet Services, Lingohocken has purchased a 2007 Ford Expedition that will be utilized as a command/chief’s vehicle. The vehicle is the special police/public service model that has less options than a normal Expedition – such as vinyl seats and flooring in the rear.  This reduces the cost significantly, and we made the purchase based upon the Pennsylvania statewide bid purchase price. The vehicle meets the needs for a chief officer to utilize on his/her daily business and operations of the fire company while keeping the vehicle cost low.  Fred Beans found a red 2007 model for us in Massachusetts. This vehicle will replace the 2001 Expedition the Chief currently uses, and that vehicle will be moved to Station 95 as the Utility vehicle, replacing the 1991 Suburban that is the current Utility 95.  The vehicle purchase is part of our long-range apparatus replacement plan.   Car Show June 22, 2008 at 12pm (raindate June 29) Middletown Grange Fair Penns Park Road, Wrightstown PA Click here for more information and registration form....   Congratulations! The Lingohocken Fire Company would like to congratulate Firefighters Nick Althouse and Tony Roggio for successfully completing their Firefighter 1 certifications.  This course consists of 146 hours of training - a significant personal commitment from both of these individuals. Nick finished first in the class - well done! Nick works for the Wrightstown Township Road Crew, and Tony lives in Buckingham and often works from home.  Both are already significant contributors to our response team, and we expect even better things from them now!   Grant Project Updates Lingohocken is finishing up several projects that were primarily funded from a US Department of Homeland Security grant, with some additional funding from a Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development grant obtained through State Representative Bernie O’Neill’s office: Exhaust ventilation systems have been installed in both of our stations. These systems automatically remove hazardous vehicle exhaust emissions from our buildings. The systems sense the vehicle starting, and automatically come on. The vertical exhaust pipes on most of our apparatus simply slide on a exhaust track suspended from the ceiling. Once the vehicles leave the building, the systems shut down. Upon return, as the truck is backed into the building and the stack enters the exhaust track, the system comes on again. The systems were manufactured and installed by Plymovent, a company that specializes in these types of systems and has done many other fire stations in the area. The second part of the project was to install laptop Dell semi-ruggedized computers in most of our vehicles. The laptops will have maps of our response district, as well as maps of all of the surrounding companies. The computers also have state-of-the art preplan software with information on most of the target hazards in our response area, as well as data on target hazards in mutual aid areas. Other data loaded includes hazardous materials databases, and technical information on cars and trucks needed to safely and effectively perform auto extrications. Click here for pictures   Santa Rides with LFCO Saturday 12/22/2007 Click here for route and times. Click here to see the pictures.   Nov 4, 2007: Change Your Clock, Change Your Smoke Detector Batteries November 4 marks the end of Daylight Savings Time, and time to turn your clocks back one hour (enjoy the extra hour of sleep!). Together with this, the Lingohocken Fire Company would like to remind you to change your smoke detector batteries.  Even though the detectors in some homes in our coverage area are AC powered, they have a battery backup, and the batteries will go bad after a year or so.  At the least, this means they will start chirping in the middle of the night. At worst, they may not work when you really need them. Take a moment this Fall and change the batteries in your detectors. http://www.energizer.com/learning/FireSafety.asp How Long will my Smoke Alarm Last? Most alarms installed today have a life span of about 8-10 years. After this time, the entire unit should be replaced. It is a good idea to write the date of purchase with a marker on the inside of your alarm so you will know when to replace it. Some of the newer alarms already have the purchase date written inside. In any event, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for replacement.   Fire Prevention Week Lingohocken firefighters made 11 visits to area schools during October, with many during Fire Prevention Week – the week of October 8. Presentations were made to teach children to prevent fires, and what to do when an emergency occurs. Firefighters modeled turnout gear and SCBA for the students so they wouldn’t feel scared and try and hide if firefighters ever had to come to rescue them. In some cases, students were treated to a tour of the fire apparatus to see the equipment firefighters use.  Over 100 visitors came to the Wycombe station for the open house on Saturday, October 13. Visitors got an opportunity to utilize a fire extinguisher to control a stove fire, while kids got a chance to try their hand using an actual fire hose.   LFCO Fire Prevention Open House Saturday, October 13, 2007 10am to 1pm Lingohocken Fire Company Mill Creek Road & Washington Avenue Wycombe, PA For more details please click here!   Annual Pancake Breakfast - Pictures Pictures from the Annual Pancake Breakfast (click here). The Lingohocken Fire Co. would especially like the thank the following contributors to this event: Fairview Farm – Daniels Family Geerlings Nursery Hometown Deli Pineville Tavern Langhorne Wawa – Greg Soto Wrightstown Elementary School – Artwork If you, your family, or your business would like to participate in next year’s event, call us at 215-598-3500 or email us webmaster@lfco.org     Your (Federal) Tax Dollars Keep Working in Our Community! The Lingohocken Fire Company is pleased to announce that on January 19, we were notified we have received a significant grant in the thirteenth round of the 2006 funding awards from the US Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. The funding will be utilized to install exhaust ventilation systems in our Wycombe and Forest Grove stations to ventilate emissions from our emergency vehicles when they are started inside the stations. The funding will also be used to purchase laptop computers and software that will allow us to place all of our maps, mutual aid maps, and preplan information on computers in our vehicles. This grant provides the majority of the funding for these projects, which will significantly enhance the safety of our personnel and visitors to our buildings, as well as improve our ability to locate emergencies and provide operational and safety intelligence regarding properties we respond to.  Existing company funds provided from local tax dollars and your donations will be utilized as a small percentage match to the federal funds. Congratulations also go out to other Bucks County fire companies who have received grants to date from this program, including the Bensalem Rescue Squad, Bristol Fire Co., Community Fire Co. of Riegelsville, Dublin Fire Co., Haycock Fire Co., Newportville Fire Co., and Silverdale Fire Co.  We appreciate the hard work of our Congressmen to provide this program that benefits local emergency responders. For more information on this program, see http://www.firegrantsupport.com   LFCO Reflective Address Signs We can’t help you if we can’t find you! Order yours today - $15 - hardware included. Click here for more information   LFCO Fire Prevention Open House Click here to view pictures from the event... Saturday, October 14, 2006 10am to 2pm Lingohocken Fire Company Mill Creek Road & Washington Avenue Wycombe, PA For more information, please contact the Fire Marshal’s office at (215) 598-3313 x13 Annual Poster Contest Winners announced & awarded!   Try your aim with a real Fire Hose!   Encourage your Mom or Dad to try to put out a stove fire!  Mom or Dad could be a winner of a prize too!   Snacks & Drinks provided!   Bring your camera & meet Lingo the Fire Dog!   Meet some Officers from the Newtown Police Department!   LFCO 4th Annual Jeff Wilgus Memorial Golf Outing October 19, 2006 Northampton Valley Country Club Richboro, PA Reservations required prior to September 2nd Click here for more information....   Take that OLD CELL PHONE out of RETIREMENT and put it to WORK! The Lingohocken Fire Company (LFCO) is collecting used cell phones in our efforts to significantly increase fundraising. In conjunction with the Charitable Recycling Program, a donation payment will be made to the LFCO for each and every cell phone collected - regardless of age or condition. Click here for more information....   LFCO Donates Fire Truck to Waveland, Mississippi The Waveland Fire Dept. lost almost all of their equipment under the flood surge of Hurricane Katrina. The Lingohocken Fire Company decided to donate their 1973 Hahn pumper to Waveland so that their fire department would be able to service their community. The Hahn was fully equipped and loaded with firefighting equipment including SCBA, attack and supply hose, generator, lights, saw, and ventilation fan. It left Wycombe on Tuesday evening September 21 for its journey South on a low-boy trailer with American and Pennsylvania State flags (courtesy of PA State Representative Scott Petri) flying proudly from the back step. We would like to thank our members for their kindness and generosity and also  the following who have donated equipment and/or services:   Keen Transport Inc., Carlisle, PA - transport of truck to MS (http://www.keentransport.com/facilities/carlisle.asp) Guardian Fire Equipment, Lansdale, PA - lettering (www.guardianfireequipment.com) Breathe Safe Fire & Safety Equipment, Warrington, PA (www.breathesafe1.com) - 6 SCBA and spare bottles Nat Alexander Fire Equipment, Laurel Springs, NJ (http://natalexanderco.com/pages/802086/index.htm) - equipment Domenic Colletti/Hale Products, Conshohocken, PA - Class A foam, foam eductor, gas PPV fan Northampton Fire Company, Richboro, PA - equipment Eagle Fire Company, New Hope, PA - turnout gear McKinley Fire Company, Abington, PA - equipment Upper Makefield Fire Company, Washington Crossing, PA - equipment Horsham Fire Company, Horsham, PA - nozzles Doylestown Fire Company, Doylestown, PA - turnout gear Merck Fire Department, Rahway, NJ - equipment Article from the Trenton Times: http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1127203622241680.xml&coll=5 Article from the The Intelligencer: http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-09222005-544909.html Article from The Sentinel: http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2005/09/22/news/news02.txt Article from the Philadelphia Inquirer: http://www.firerescue1.com/products/vehicles/articles/10633/   September is National Preparedness Month, Are You Prepared?   Are You Ready? Guide from FEMA http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/   Building a Home Safety Kit - Click Here   American Red Cross Preparedness Tips http://www.redcross.org/services/prepare/0,1082,0_239_,00.html   Your (Federal) Tax Dollars at Work in Our Community! The Lingohocken Fire Company is pleased to announce that on August 19, we were notified we have received a significant grant in the first round of 2005 funding awards from the US Department of Homeland Security's Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness (SLGCP) and the United States Fire Administration's Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program to replace our 1969 Field/Quick Attack Truck at the Wycombe Station. This will provide the majority of the funding to purchase this vehicle, which will significantly improve our brush firefighting capabilities, along with abilities to access narrow driveways and provide significant improvements to the safety of our personnel operating this vehicle. Existing company funds provided from local tax dollars and your donations will be utilized as a small percentage match to the federal funds. We will be working on specifying the replacement and hope to take delivery of this sometime in 2006.  We appreciate the hard work of our Congressmen to provide this program that benefits local emergency responders. For more information on this program, see www.firegrantsupport.com