HUMMELS WHARF — He was 4 years old when he put on his first uniform and marched in a fireman’s parade.
Now, decades later, Hummels Wharf Fire Company Deputy Chief John “Jack” Grove still is active.
“Nobody ever asked me to join the company,” Grove said. “You were never told you had to.”
It was just something he always knew, and always wanted to be a part of.
In 2012, his family will have been active in fire service for a century. His grandfather joined in 1912.
“We lived and breathed the fire company,” Grove said.
He was voted into membership with the Conemaugh Fire Department when he was 17. His three brothers are still involved in fire service there.
His father and two uncles were serving as chiefs at the time he joined.
“They were good role models,” he said.
In his 45 years of service, Grove said he’s run the gamut of fighting fires that spread to whole city blocks, to industrial fires to flaming gasoline tankers.
“I have a very understanding wife,” he said. “When I say I’m going somewhere, she just waves.”
He serves as a training coordinator for fire and emergency medical services for Snyder County, as emergency management coordinator for Monroe Township and as deputy chief and spokesman for the Hummels Wharf Fire Company, which includes writing grant applications and dealing with the media.
How does he do it all?
“Luckily, I’m retired,” he said with a smile.
Formerly the assistant principal at Selinsgrove Area High School for 25 years, he said fighting fires was a welcome distraction from what he calls one of the toughest jobs around.
“It was my former relaxation,” he said. “Every time the tones went off, I could just set it aside.”
“Sometimes, I think that kept my sanity,” he added.
However, emergency service also has its drawbacks. “You get tired, worn out, mentally drained,” he said.
So why does he keep doing it?
“There are days I ask myself the same question,” he said as he looked up and smiled slightly.
But then there are other days in which he finds great rewards.
For example, as a state fire instructor, with emeritus status, he gets to teach the ropes to new volunteers.
And he takes pride in all the work he and others have done recently to renovate the company’s new building along the Old Trail. The volunteers now have all new apparatus and a new truck room, filled with two engines, a tanker, a reserve engine, squad vehicle and an amphibious vehicle.
The department has 20 active members and averages about seven people per call.
News
Related Photos
-
Justin Engle / The Daily Item
Discussion
Deputy chief has fire service in his blood
- News
-
-
Firefighter union may char pacts
LEWISBURG — Paid members of the William Cameron Engine Company have voted to unionize under the International Association of Fire Fighters, a move believed to stem from internal tension between paid and volunteer members of the department, according to various sources.
-
M-W rule on drug testing is area’s boldest
MIDDLEBURG — Midd-West is the only school district in the Central Susquehanna Valley that requires students interested in participating in extra-curricular activities to agree to submit to random drug testing.
-
New shelter exec gets busy
When Cathy Teisher stepped down as executive director of Haven Ministries, in March, Pamela Steffen stepped up.
-
Tax boost could bring $120G pad
The Lewisburg Area School District will seek a 3.2 percent real estate tax increase for the 2012-13 school year, the maximum allowed under the index, under a proposed budget now available for public comment.
-
Fire has burned beneath Centralia for 50 years
CENTRALIA — Fifty years ago on Sunday, a fire at the town dump ignited an exposed coal seam, setting off a chain of events that eventually led to the demolition of nearly every building in Centralia — a whole community of 1,400 simply gone.
-
'To Do': Montandon Community Days
MONTANDON - Montandon Community Days will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 26 along Railroad Street.
-
California’s Coronado named nation’s best beach
CORONADO, Calif. (AP) — Like a Hollywood star, Coronado’s 1.5 mile-long beach literally sparkles, thanks to the mineral mica glinting in its sand.
That’s one of the reasons why Coronado — flanked by the iconic hotel featured in Marilyn Monroe’s 1958 film “Some Like It Hot” — has been named the No. 1 beach in the United States in the 2012 survey by “Dr. Beach” professor Stephen P. Leatherman of Florida International University. -
Typical CEO made $9.6M last year, AP study finds
Profits at big U.S. companies broke records last year, and so did pay for CEOs.
-
Barnstorming cattle badger citizens for beer
BOXFORD, Mass. (AP) — Police say a roving group of cows crashed a small gathering in a Massachusetts town and bullied the guests for their beer.
-
'A Day in Towne' tradition draws crowds to Boalsburg
May 25--For the 148th year, Boalsburg will be the gathering place for regional families to remember all ranks of Armed Forces veterans.
-
Fired Pa. president gets more time to clear office
CALIFORNIA, Pa. (AP) — A judge has canceled a hearing to determine whether California University of Pennsylvania president Angelo Armenti can remove his personal property from his former office, because state officials have given him more time to do so.
- Weird crime of the week: Peddler in pickup scams bargain-hunting meat seeker
- More News Headlines
-
Firefighter union may char pacts
