Firefighters Film Recruitment Commercial

Lights, sirens and action.

Firefighters from the Levittown-area descended on the Lower Bucks County Fire Training Center in the Croydon section of Bristol Township Monday night to film a new recruiting commercial.

The shoot Monday night involved raging flames, firefighters venting a roof and maneuvering through a burning building. Other shoots this week in Tullytown and back at the training center will involve water rescues, hazmat situations and a vehicle extrication, said Jerry Barton, who is a Parkland and Langhorne-Middletown fire companies member involved in planning the shoot.

“We’re excited to show people what we can do,” said Rob Kay, co-chair of the Bucks County Fire Chiefs and Firefighters Association’s Recruiting Committee. “We think it will be a great chance to showcase our skills and get people interested.”

This is the second television commercial the Bucks County Fire Chiefs and Firefighters Association has put out in recent years. The first features mainly central and upper county fire companies. Barton said the night that commercial was filmed Lower Bucks County firefighters were called to a multi-alarm scrap yard fire in Falls Township.

The new advertisement is expected to air this fall in Bucks County and possibly even during local broadcasts of Monday Night Football on ESPN.

The commercial is part of an effort by the Bucks County Fire Chiefs and Firefighters Association to bring new members into the local volunteer fire service. Barton said the number of volunteers has decreased in recent years and staffing trucks can be difficult during part of the day.

The effort, paid for by a FEMA  Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant and municipal budgets, includes social media pushes, attendance at local events, movie theater advertisements, a new website, banners and signs. So far, officials said the recruiting efforts have led to more members to fire companies.

For more information on joining local fire companies, visit BucksFire.org.