Historic Day for the MFD29

Today marks a historic day in Mechanicsburg Fire History! For the first time, Part-time firefighters staffed the station alongside volunteers. Pictured are two of our new employees with our Chief and Captain. These firefighters and a crew of volunteer firefighters spent their first day training and familiarizing themselves with our apparatus.

As our community and call volume continues to grow and evolve, so must our fire department. In hiring Part-time Firefighters, the Mechanicsburg Fire Department acknowledges the needs of the community and continues to raise the bar with public safety. We appreciate the support for this project from the Borough of Mechanicsburg, who continually proves they support our mission statement, “Public Safety is Priority #1”.

Starting this month, Part-time Firefighters will work through their Driver/Operator task books. By January, employees will be cleared to Operate all MFD apparatus. Once cleared, the Part-time Firefighters will participate in our Duty Driver program.

For the last several years, our volunteer firefighters have faithfully operated a 24/7, 365 day a year Duty Driver program. This program ensures at least 1 apparatus is constantly staffed and ready to respond to emergencies. Volunteers have ensured this program’s success for many years, and the program has been very successful despite volunteers often making personal and professional sacrifices to fulfill the Duty schedule. This is not a sustainable practice, and often times left volunteers overworked and burnt out. This Part-time Firefighter program will bring some much needed relief to our volunteers who have been stretched thin maintaining such a strenuous duty schedule.

We are excited to work alongside our new Part-time Firefighters, and are proud to continue progressing towards a more efficient and effective firefighting tea