The Alpha Fire Company opened its doors for its Annual Open House on Sunday, Aril 17, 2016.
By Anna Pitingolo, Jeff Tinkoff and Marisol Pacaja
The Alpha Fire Company has been serving the State College community since 1899. Located on the corner of West Beaver and South Atherton, the fire station opens up its doors and welcomes the community in every year at the annual open house.
This year’s event took place on April 17th, a gorgeous Sunday that still saw stragglers from the Penn State Blue & White game walking around downtown.
According to Volunteer Fire Chief Jeff Martin, the open house can attract anywhere from 300 to 500 people, this year leaning towards the latter thanks to the weather. The goal of the open house is to educate those in the area about fire and general safety.
“We have booths set up with fire prevention information, we have membership information, and again just to show them our tools,” Martin said. “We also get to show them our trucks and everything up close.”
At the event, guests could take turns dunking volunteer firemen in the dunk tank using the fire hose. They could also get up close and personal with all the tools used when the firemen are battling a fire. And for those feeling a little more adventurous, they could take a ride in one of the bucket ladders to see State College from up above.
It was the youngest guests that were having the most fun, even if they had been there before. Molly and Connor love hanging out at the station with their firefighter dad, but they think it’s cool that other people get to check out the station, too, and enjoy just like they do.
“It’s nice because not everyone can have a family member so they can’t see it every day, so it’s really nice,” Molly said.
The fire department is mainly funded by outside donations, so it’s important for the community to get a look inside the firehouse so they can see what their money is going into. Once community members can see what the Alpha Fire Co. has invested in with their money, it makes them more inclined to donate again in the future.
On top of that, Martin believes seeing the station themselves gives people a sense of reassurance in case danger were to ever strike. He says it’s one thing to know it’s there but a whole different thing to see it with their own eyes.
“I believe it makes them feel safe knowing and seeing what we have to help them if it’s needed,” Martin said.
Martin doesn’t know for sure how long the annual open house has been going on, but it’s been happening since he first started volunteering 28 years ago. In that time, he has seen the event grow and flourish.
The fire station has approximately 95 firefighters, and according to Martin, about 30-35 of them are Penn State students. The students come from all over, and while the department is volunteer based, the firefighters receive plenty of perks with the job.
“Not just to the students, but any member that joins, we provide them with all the tools they’ll need to succeed,” Martin said. “All their gear, all their training is paid for by the Alpha Fire Company. We have a live-in program as well, that primarily the students are involved in. That allows us to have staffing through the night and it allows the students a place to live for free.”