Local Fire Companies Train Members At Closed Elementary School

January 19, 2023

On Saturday morning around 9 a.m., if you walked around Greenbrook Drive, you could hear a subtle buzzing sound coming from the closed John Fitch Elementary School in Bristol Township’s Levittown section.

As you walked up to the school, the buzzing was even louder as firefighters shuffled around the elementary school’s roof. Upon closer look, you could see that the firefighters were cutting into the roof of the school.

On the other side of the abandoned 17.5-acre property, there were firefighters trying to open the school’s exterior doors by force.

There was no smoke, no emergency vehicles, and no police on the scene.

So… where’s the fire?

The purpose of Saturday’s event was to allow local fire companies the opportunity to train some of their newest members.

Edgley Fire Company, Levittown Fire Company No. 2, and Croydon Fire Company were all on the premises with veterans educating new members on building construction, roof cutting, forceable entry, commercial ventilation, and other operations.

“We don’t get these opportunities that often. The new owners were nice enough to invite us down here to train on the building,” said Brian Cirard, chief of the Edgley Fire Company.

The new company – JRGF LLC. – purchased John Fitch Elementary and two other elementary schools in 2022, including Abraham Lincoln Elementary on Plumtree Drive and George Washington Elementary School on Crabtree Drive. The sale of the schools was for $1.2 million. The plan is to transform John Fitch Elementary and Abraham Lincoln Elementary into 55-plus communities. The George Washington site will be left open space and could be developed into a park.

Once developed into age-restricted communities with townhomes, flats, and apartments, the district expects them to bring in $1.8 million in new tax revenue each year.

One of the partners for JRGF LLC., Robert Wagner, said that his company has contacted fire chiefs to use all three schools for training before they are completely torn down.

“We just appreciate their services, and the other schools will become available in the next couple weeks for the same practices you see today,” said Wagner.

Chief Cirard said after they were contacted with the opportunity, a few legal documents had to be signed and the date was set for the training program.

For Edgley Fire Company, there were 10 members present, seven of which have been with the fire company for less than a year.

While Cirard credits the Lower Bucks Public Safety Training Center for its prop materials available for trainees, nothing beats real life scenarios like Saturday morning.

“Having these new members who are 16-20 years old, and just completed over 200 hours of training, they now are placed into a situation they may have to face in real life. It could be a Levittown house, an elementary school, a small business, a church, either way this is the type of stuff we face day in and day out,” Cirard said.

Billy O’Neill, a firefighter with Levittown Fire Company No. 2 , Engine 13, said some of his company’s instructors have 20-plus years of experience.

“And they’ve unfortunately had the experience of doing these practices in real fires. So, we’re passing our knowledge down to these new members for when the time comes,” O’Neill said. “But it’s always a learning opportunity on both sides.”