Mutual Aid: The Compassion, Education and Brotherhood of FDMT

When it comes to firefighting, you’re almost born into it.

That’s not meant literally—there are some really great heroes whose kin never picked up a fire hose.

What it’s supposed to mean is there is some desire burning inside your heart, and you don’t want to put it out.

Take the men and women of Fire Department of Montgomery Township, for instance. Captains Frank Colelli and John Scheiter each had passions for firefighting in their early teens.

“We all started as volunteers,” Colelli said. “A lot of it is, young kids get interested, and whether or not it develops into a career, they stay interested in it.”

Scheiter said most departments have a junior explorer program where youth can join at 14. Scheiter said he started at 15 years old.

“Most departments today, you can become a junior firefighter at 16,” he said.

Scheiter said firefighting has always been a true passion.

“We all share the same feeling: you are helping the public,” Scheiter said. “If we have the opportunity to save a life, that’s what we do.”

When he was 12, a fire destroyed Scheiter’s home near Supplee Road and Flintlock Drive in Upper Gwynedd. His house did not have heat on the second floor. One day, Scheiter’s dad went into the attic to thaw out some pipes with a blowtorch.

The insulation caught fire in the attic.

“I’ll never forget the night my mom got the call—We were at my grandmother’s house. She rushed out that door to get home,” Scheiter said. “The house had significant damage. We were out for three, four months.”

Firefighter Bob Hedden said nobody in his family was a firefighter.

“One day, I saw a fire truck go down Yardley Avenue, and I went into the firehouse and that’s it,” he said. “We all joined at 16 and we’re all volunteers outside of work.”

Furthermore, there is camaraderie, a brotherhood, that comes with firefighting.

“We all provide mutual aid to each other,” said Scheiter. “We had a mutual aid agreement with the fire departments, when there are fires in the township.”

Scheiter said for everyone to work on the same page, it comes down to each department’s leadership and preferences.

“These are lives we’re dealing with,” said Colelli. “We have to protect peoples’ properties.”

Something New Every Day

There’s one aspect of firefighting that isn’t evident to the public, but it occurs every day in the lives of the crew at FDMT—education.

To this day, everyone from the newest recruit to the chief of the department learns something new every day.

The education isn’t just in the weekly training sessions—it begins each morning with the inspection of each fire engine or ladder. For Hedden, inspection means beginning in the cab and circling around the truck. He makes sure all the lights work, and he inspects each hose on the truck. A ladder is mechanically lowered from the top of the truck and Hedden  checks to make sure it is secure. Every piece of equipment is tightened in its straps or checked for faultiness. On the visit to FDMT, a saw needed quick repairs, so it was brought to the Montgomery Township Public Works.

Education also begins at the riding board. Here, each firefighter on duty knows who is driving the truck, manning the hose, running nozzles on the hose (tip man) and responsible for wrapping the hydrant (plug man). (Luckily, the FDMT engine holds 500 gallons of water).

Firefighters like FDMT also get educated after each fire during an informal debriefing. Colelli said an after-action report points out what the crew did correct and what the crew can improve on for next time.

Education doesn’t stop at the four walls of either FDMT station, be it the one at Route 309 and Stump Road or the one on Route 202.

“We work with local businesses to do evacuation drills,” said Colelli. “We provide fire safety education for hotels, schools, healthcare centers, day care centers and the mall. It’s training for them, and we develop a great working relationship with the business.”

One business that holds that relationship with FDMT is AES Clean Technology on Stump Road in Montgomery Township. Last week, the department held an evacuation drill for employees that measured everything from response time and notification to the county to how fast employees evacuated the building.

“It’s all about education,” Colelli said. “We take the time to educate the business on what to do to maintain a safe working environment for employees and patrons.”

Colelli said call volumes for fires at area businesses dropped drastically in three years.

“Routine inspections are important,” said Scheiter. “We make sure they are up-to-date on emergency drills, it keeps the building up to code and it helps in these life issues.”

FDMT is also educated on which businesses need special attention and pre-fire planning, either due to high occupancy or due to hazardous materials that it manufactures daily. Examples include Montgomery Mall, Pennbrook Middle School and Suburban Propane.

“We are working on evacuation drills with the staff at Suburban Propane, with the county hazmat and the county emergency services,” said Colelli. “There is pre-planning in case we need to evacuate if there is an incident. We need to know what the response will be to any incident there.”

“We are available to business as often as requested,” said Colelli. “We do every school and day care once a year.”

Colelli said education also applies to residents of the township.

“We have a smoke detector program, and we will come in and test and change batteries for people,” he said. “It’s a good rapport. We get into their houses and talk to them.”

The determination of more help at a fire scene is made through the highest in the chain of command on scene: Fire chief and director of fire services are at the top, followed by deputy chief, captain and then firefighter.

“There are a lot of things to evaluate at a fire,” said Scheiter. “Is every building safe enough to go into in a fire? No, it depends on how much fire is involved in the building. You have to size it up with the factors: the heat, the smoke, if there are occupants trapped. Every situation is different. We put ourselves in danger, but it’s a risk versus reward assessment.”

Colelli said the evaluation begins upon the first dispatch, when the chief, deputy chief or captain looks at the type of building involved in the fire and its construction.

“We have to make the call on a more offense operation or an exterior defense operation,” Colelli said.

Last week’s evacuation drill at AES Clean Technologies was common ground for FDMT, and it’s because of education.

“We know what ‘s in there. The pre-fire intelligence gave us an idea of what we would be going into,” said Colelli.

Colelli added that firefighting is also about the feeling, the listening. Firefighters cannot always rely on modern technology like thermal imaging cameras. Modern technology, Colelli said, will never replace tried and true rescue tactics.

“The basics get you out when new technology fails,” Colelli said. “You can’t replace the basics of your senses.”

Recruit, Retain, Rapport

A department is only as good as the men and women in fireproof gear doing their job to serve and protect the common neighbor.

Like many area departments in today’s times, FDMT is struggling to recruit and retain members.

At present, FDMT has three full-time career firefighters and 12 part-time career firefighters. Chief is not a career position, but volunteer. There are about 40 volunteer firefighters with the department, according to Montgomery Township Director of Fire Services Rick Lesniak.

Four career firefighters are on every weekday, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

FDMT is a combination department—there are career staff and volunteers. Some departments, like Upper Gwynedd Fire Department, for example, where Scheiter is chief, are volunteer only. Other combination fire departments in the area include Norristown, Upper Moreland, Whitpain and Pottstown.

“It’s still a struggle to get members to join. There are demands with family commitments and it limits the time to volunteer,” said Lesniak.

The state imposes requirements on training hours to become a certified firefighter. At present, an individual must complete 166 hours of training, and complete a written and practical test, in order to become a basic firefighter. Some of these training classes occur on weekends and weekdays, putting a strain on the schedules of interested firefighter recruits.

Hedden said the career firefighters at FDMT must obtain fire inspection licenses from the state. There are also continuing education units firefighters rack up each year.

Hedden said firefighters are required to undergo HAZMAT operations training, CPR and First Aid certification, and blood borne pathogen certification.

“A lot of people just look for administrative work,” said Lesniak. “It takes the burden off firefighters to make calls.”

Volunteer firefighter Laura Duff, who is also employed as the public information officer for Montgomery Township, said successful retention of volunteers results in great camaraderie.

“We get better skill sets and it builds us as a better coordinated team,” she said.

FDMT & MT

A department is also just as good as the municipality and community that support it.

FDMT was formed Dec. 27, 2002. Before its formation, Montgomery Township fire calls were handled by Colmar Fire Company.

“The township supports us really well with equipment,” said Scheiter.

Scheiter said there is still some confusion in the community that FDMT is all volunteer.

“It’s not. We’re here Monday to Friday, whether it’s Fire Prevention Week or for safety inspections,” said Scheiter.

In 2012, FDMT responded to 587 calls.

‘We have to be at our best, when people are experiencing their worst’

Call it camaraderie, call it brotherhood, call it what you will—FDMT is a second home to many firefighters and the FDMT brethren are a shoulder to lean on in the toughest of times.

“We’ll have guys here for dinner, just 10, 12 hanging out, enjoying each other’s company,” said Lesniak.

The firefighters at FDMT all share the risks that come with the job.

Hedden said you can do everything right, and still die on the job.

“There are no guarantees,” he said.

Scheiter said he tends not to think about the risks.

“If you dwell on it, it could affect you,” he said.

“The thought is in the back of your head,” said Colelli, “but you are here to help and make a difference.”

FDMT firefighters aren’t just filled with passion for the job, but compassion for those whose lives are changed through devastating fires.

“We need to be compassionate,” said Colelli. “We are there with them at the hardest point of their life.”

Last year, firefighters took a young boy shopping for $1,000 in new toys via fundraiser proceeds. The boy and his parents had their home destroyed by a fire on Douglass Road.

“We work with them and try to help them get through it,” Colelli said.

Often times, the firefighters will guide residents on whom to contact at his or her insurance company and inform residents on what needs to be done by a destruction and restoration company.

“We get the ball rolling to help them rebuild their lives,” Colelli said.

The firefighters are also each other’s support systems in the times of strife or tragedy. FDMT also has access to an optional Critical Incident Stress Management program for firefighters.

“If you don’t feel for this business, then you’re not here,” said Hedden. “We have to be at our best, when people are experiencing their worst.”

He said the best counseling service is each other.

“We are brothers,” he said. “If something is going on, we talk to each other. The most important thing we do is protect the lives and livelihood of the 25,000 people in Montgomery Township.” 

Want to join Fire Department of Montgomery Township? You can download a copy of the membership application to mail at this link. You can also download the form from our photo gallery.

Visit Fire Department of Montgomery Township at its online station at www.fdmt.org.

Read more on FDMT and its endeavors:

• Souderton Student Shadows Firefighters In Honor of Grandfather
• FDMT Founding Members Honored with Service Awards
• FDMT Reaches Out To Community In Wake of Recent Fires
• FDMT Four Firefighters Stronger
• FDMT Honored for Dog Rescue
• Fire Engulfs Montgomery Township Home (video)
• Montgomery Township welcomes new fire police member
• Five Displaced in Montgomery Township Fire
• Lesniak Named New Director of Fire Services at Montgomery Township
• Woman Uninjured in Residential Fire in Montgomery Township
• Brightcliffe Resigning as Montgomery Township Director of Fire Services
• Two House Fires Still Under Investigation in Montgomery Township
• Dryer Source of House Fire in Montgomery Township
• Late Afternoon Fire Destroys Montgomeryville Home
• Inaugural FDMT Car Show Rolls into Town
• Supervisors OK $14K Replacement to FDMT Ladder
• FDMT Asking for Help in Long-Range Replacement Plan

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