The Hepburn Township Fire Police consist of men and women, who are nominated by members of the
Hepburn Township Volunteer Fire Company to the Hepburn Township Board of Supervisors and if approved by them, then they are sworn in by the local District Judge (James Sortman). Once they have been sworn in by oath they are then
known as Special Fire Police. Fire Police have Police Powers neccesary to fulfill their jobs. Only Volunteer Fire Departments may have Fire Police.
Fire Police work under the direction of either State or Local Police (PA State Police and Old Lycoming Township Police for our coverage area). Fire Police are also under the
direction of the Fire Chief, Fire Police Captain and Fire Police Lieutenant. Fire Police are volunteers as other members of the Fire Department are. These men and women put in long hours that dont always get recognized, when
often are out longer than fire apparatus and most Fire Police use their own personal vehicles to respond. If you would choose to become a Fire Police Officer there some things to think about. How well can the public get along with you? Can you get along with the public? Are you able to stand for sometimes long periods of time? Are you able to move quickly if you should need to? As Fire Police are responding to incidents you need to think about the traffic first, what needs to be done with traffic when you arrive and how to set the traffic pattern up if the road is passable to keep traffic flowing, if not then if there is a detour or if they will just have to sit or if the vehicle has enough room to turn around to re-route. A lot of decision making occurs as your arriving and normally soon after you arrive. Since your not there its hard to plan because every incident is different. This is not always an easy task especially if you are not as familar with the area you are responding to. Sometimes you may be responding to another fire department's primary response area.
Fire Police are in the public's eye the most and how we look, act, and control things is how the public views the Township, Fire Department, as well as Fire Police in general. (Good)Attitude, (Be)Alert and (Stay in)Control is effective! Safety for Everyone is a Must!
Information on an incident is for the Public Information Officer (PIO) designated to
give it out which means Fire Police do not get involved with answering questions. Many times people are asking what is going on, the best answer to expect is there is a fire or there is an accident, the details Will Not be available from Fire Police. Most of the time we don't know any details anyway and we usually find out like everyone else does, when you see it on the news or in the newspaper.
Scanner world hears most everything that is said
so radio communication means a lot in how the public views us as well. When radios are is use, transmissions should be professional and kept short. A Fire Police Officer is trained that their own safety comes first. Why? If we are not safe, how can you be safe?
We as well as any volunteer organization values our volunteers and need as many as possible. With this in mind I as the Fire Police Captain look
forward to your volunteerism and dedication. I hope everyone reading this has a better respect and understanding for Fire Police and all Emergency Personnel in general since every incident is unpredicatable and we may need your help sometime to. Thank you and we hope to have you enrolled soon! Stay Safe and Good Luck!
Sorry about the missing graphic(s), if you have found any. The Hepburn Twp Fire Police Badge is the same as the captain badge except for its "Silver" instead of "Gold" and it says "Special" instead of "Captain" so this gives you an idea.
Here are some courses that Fire Police should attend... There is a probation period for all new members and the 1st 3 listed are required as well as NIMS. I strongly advise all of these classes as eventually they all will be required.
Intro to Safety and Training (IST) (6.5 hr.)
Basic Fire Police (16 hr.)
Haz Mat Awareness (4 hr.)
Haz Mat Operations (24 hr.)
Advanced Fire Police (16 hr.)
Emergency Response for Fire Police (16 hr.)
Non Emergency Response for Fire Police (16 hr.)
Highway Incident Scene Safety (16 hr.)
Communications for Fire Police (16 hr.)
NIMS 100 and NIMS 700 (online course or class)
NIMS 200 and NIMS 800 (online course or class)
Street Survival (16 hr.)
CPR/AED
Legal Concepts for Fire Police (16 hr.)
Pennsylvania State Certification (is something fairly new but you must have all classes in order to take it)
