Royersford Fire Department
”Firefighter For A Day”

Royersford, in the fall, Mayor Jenna joked that only her friend Adam and his colleagues down at the Royersford Fire Department could convince her to walk into a burning building! She said "yes" to the opportunity to participate in their inaugural "Firefighter For A Day" program because she trusts them, and really, how often do we get a chance to do something like this in our lifetime? Here’s what she had to say!

“Ten fellow community members and I spent two Thursday evenings and a Saturday learning some very basic information about the knowledge. skills, and realities of being part of the Fire Service team. (The very, very, very basics!)

We each practiced putting on and wearing 77 pounds of gear, adjusting the straps, walking in the boots, making sure our masks were properly sealed, and breathing with the help of the SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus). We wore our gear and practiced working in teams to direct and hold a live hose (which, by the way, is the heaviest thing in the world that anyone should reasonably be expected to carry), practiced crawling around confined spaces filled with fake smoke, and at the end, our training led to a LIVE BURN! We encountered a building with a live fire. We took on the challenge as a group and slayed it together, with the guidance of the RFD98 crew.

If you know me, you know I'd rather be sitting at a table with a meal than going for a hike or pick up game of ball. Each challenge was physically demanding, but accomplish-able, even for me. We each got a tiny taste of how difficult the job is... how many hours of training are necessary to do this work... and we also saw and experienced first hand the authentic and beautifully built foundation of teamwork that exists among these men and women who put in the work for US, you and me, in our community. And they don't get paid a dime for it. The work is continuous but fulfilling, difficult but rewarding, and each individual brings an aspect to the team that is necessary both in life and firefighting.

I am very grateful for this opportunity and cannot thank the men and women of the Royersford Fire Department who volunteer their time every day AND THEN VOLUNTEERED MORE TIME to put together and attend this program for us.

If you have questions or are even a little bit interested in knowing what this job entails, reach out! You don't have to actually enter burning buildings to be on the team. There are countless roles needed to be filled and each one is important.

Thanks for reading, Royersford. And thanks to the RFD98 for an incredible experience.”