History of Station 12 Continued -

1961 - 1971

After a number of apartment fires in Montgomery, the company felt the great need for ventilation aids and in April 1961, they purchased two smoke exhaust fans which were some of the first owned by a volunteer fire company in Lycoming County. Smoke masks had already been in use for several years. The company soon realized that the original equipment truck was too small to handle the growing array of fire equipment and decided to obtain a larger truck. A new International, walk-in equipment truck was received in October 1962 at a cost of $3,484.

Heating problems plagued the company and in November 1963, gas heat was installed and in May 1965, aluminum siding was also installed. About this same period, fiber glass insulation was added to the attic area. In June 1966, a new 1966 Howe 750 gallon per minute, 500 gallon, pumper was put into service to replace the original 1946 pumper. Improvements continued and in November 1966 a new roof was laid on the building and in April 1970 a new well had to be drilled. One of the greatest advancements in communication came with the purchase of radio monitors. These receivers are now in almost every active fireman’s home and enable them to know immediately the location of an alarm.

In the past 60+ years, all the advancements of the company had been too numerous to mention. Nevertheless, those advancements were due in no small part to the small army of dedicated men and women who sacrificed many hours with sweat and blood.

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