History of Station 12 Continued -
1985 - 1995
In May of 1985 a devastating tornado ripped across the valley and CTVFC members worked hand in hand with neighboring departments from the County to assist the residents that were affected in Washington, Brady, Clinton, Townships in Lycoming County and Delaware and Gregg Townships in Union and Northumberland Counties.
In 1986 CTVFC purchased a used rescue truck from the Kimberton Volunteer Fire Company in PA. This truck had an on-board generator, ample amounts of flood lighting and it contained the first ever mobile cascade system on it that allowed us to refill our breathing air tanks right at the scene of a fire. It also carried spare SCBA cylinders on board. This truck has been renamed “Utility 12” and has seen its fair share of responses over its lifetime with us.
In the mid 80’s, the Company purchased the first five inch hose for use in the Company. It had a totally new thread system called a “Storz-Lock” and it revolutionized the way we moved water at a fire.
In 1987, a committee was formed to add a new fire pumper to the Company. This truck would be the first ever Diesel engine powered apparatus and it would also be the first fire engine with an automatic transmission. This caused a great controversy amongst the members of the Company. Several felt that a diesel/automatic would “never pull the hills” in the area. After several meetings, a contract with the Sutphen Corporation was signed and the truck was ordered at a cost of $168,000. The new engine was a 1500 gallon per minute pump and a 750 gallon tank. It turned out that the members fell in love with this truck. It fought its first fire in Muncy at the former “Mode-craft” building before the radio was even installed in it. It was specially called to pump water through five inch hose from the Muncy boat access along the river through other engines and hose for nearly a mile. The truck performed flawlessly for over 24 hours continuous pumping.
In 1988, tragedy occurred in Clinton Township along the Susquehanna River near an area known as “Sandy Beach”. A car carrying two children somehow rolled into the swollen, raging, river and the children and their mother perished. Several attempts were made by SCUBA divers from the Williamsport area to reach the submerged car and eventually it was found and removed with the help of a wrecker. A week long search of the river was made and eventually, all of the victims were recovered. It was due to this tragedy that then Chief, Ken McClintock, established a dive team within the Clinton Twp. Fire Company. Along with the assistance and training of Randy Young of Susquehanna Scuba Center in Sunbury, Pa, 12 members of CTVFC were trained and equipped to perform SCUBA rescues and recoveries. They were trained to dive to depths of 130 feet, under ice, in extreme cold temperatures, and in conditions where there was not any visibility. They learned how to communicate with ropes while underwater and to search large bodies of water quickly and effectively. After the team was established and training was complete, CTVFC purchased the first ever water rescue boat in the Company. It was a Grumman 20 foot, aluminum boat with a 90 hp jet engine on it.
The divers have responded to many communities since their inception. Most notably, we responded to the Dalmatia area to recover a plane that had crashed into the river during the winter. Two CTVFC divers were able to float the plane with inner tubes to remove it from the river while many other divers could not stay in the water due to the extreme cold. It was only due to the new neoprene “dry-suits” that the CTVFC divers were wearing that kept them from feeling the effects of the cold water. We have responded to the Bloomsburg area to assist the Pennsylvania State police in recovering weapons used during a crime from a creek. We have also responded to Raystown Lake several times to assist dive teams in that area with searches and recoveries of drowning victims there.
During 1993, a committee was formed to replace the 1980 Grumman engine and the 1973 Tanker with a new pumper/tanker. Once again, the Sutphen Corporation of Ohio was contracted to provide the apparatus which was the first enclosed cab apparatus owned by the Company. It has a 1500 gallon per minute pump and 1250 gallons of water.
