POTTS GROVE — It was probably inevitable that Terry Brown, 49, of Potts Grove, would rise to the position of fire chief of the Potts Grove Fire Company. After all, his father and grandfather were firefighters.
Their original influence led him to the Turbotville Fire Company when he was only 16 years old.
“I was young, but it was a lifestyle I understood and was very comfortable with,” he said. “I grew up around firefighters. I understood what it meant to be awakened at all hours of the night. I knew all about the responsibility of responding quickly to emergency calls.”
When someone calls 911, he said, people need to know that a big, red fire engine will be there quickly to help put out the flames and help them if they are injured.
Brown has been fire chief in Potts Grove twice, the latest appointment four years ago. He still marvels at how the responsibilities of a fire chief have changed over the years.
“I still consider myself, bottom line, a firefighter. But as chief, you have to be pretty involved with fundraising. The business aspect of what we do is paramount to our success. That’s always been the case, especially in small communities like ours. These days, I’m also getting pretty good at grant writing,” Brown said. “It’s so important. We’re a small company.”
The Potts Grove Fire Company includes about 12 active firefighters and about 25 support people.
He is extremely proud of getting the company a $250,000 grant from the Department of Community and Economic Development. Those funds helped pay for a new $850,000 fire station, which is dedicated this Saturday in Potts Grove.
“The equipment available to modern day firefighters far eclipses that which I used when I just started out,” Brown said. “The protective clothes we wear on the scene just keeps getting better and better.”
Training methods have also improved. Brown said he’s constantly taking intensive training courses on various aspects of fire science.
Much of that training is theoretical, and Brown is close to getting an associate’s degree in fire science technology from Luzerne County Community College.
He also has to coordinate coverage and make agreements with other fire departments. That’s why, he explained, you see fire departments from neighboring towns responding to blazes out of their immediate area.
“We’re all brothers here, and we all have one main goal,” he said. “Protecting people and their property.
“What’s most gratifying about what I do,” he said, “is that I get a chance to help people during the worst day of their lives.”
When he sees someone he has helped, healthy, and walking on the streets of his town, he knows he and his company have done their jobs.
Brown is also pleased when his firefighters are able to prevent the destruction of a home.
“To know that the residents still live there and have rebuilt the damaged portion of their house, that’s tremendously satisfying. After all, these are our neighbors,” he said.
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