Close to 200 people gathered in the big Nescopeck Township Fire Hall on Zenith Road on Saturday, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the neighboring Mocanaqua Volunteer Fire Co.
And in a quiet corner, Dena Ciampi Briggs took a moment to sum up the firefighters’ contributions to their community:
“When you’re in trouble in the middle of the night, you’re really hoping they’ll show up and help you,” she told a reporter. “And they will. For free.”
Actually, calls don’t always come during the middle of the night. Sometimes they come when the firefighters are sitting down to a holiday dinner. Or celebrating their child’s birthday. Or watching their favorite team play baseball.
Local volunteer firefighters have responded to calls during all those times.
“I love helping people,” Mocanaqua Fire Chief Stephen McDaniels said. “I love giving back to the town I grew up in. It means a lot to me.”
McDaniels followed the example of his father, the late William “Billy” McDaniels Sr., who served many years as a firefighter. In 2007, the elder McDaniels suffered a medical emergency while out on a call, and never came home.
For many firefighters’ families, the fear that a loved one won’t come home is all too real.
“I always remember my dad would come in and give us (his two daughters) a kiss before he left,” Shannon Meade said, remembering the days when her father, the late Frank Slominski, was an active firefighter.
Mocanaqua Volunteer Fire Co. responds to about 200 calls each year, Chief McDaniels said. And many of them are not fires.
Nowadays firefighters are likely responding to motor vehicle accidents, said Dena Briggs, who is married to Nescopeck Township Fire Chief Dylan Briggs and has two sons, 20-year-old Lewis and 18-year-old Mitchell, who are also firefighters with the Nescopeck Township company.
“It can be scary to know your son is out there with a stop sign, holding traffic back,” she said.
Dena Briggs has a connection to the Mocanaqua Fire Co. as well. Her great-grandfather’s brother, Philip Ciampi, was one of the founding members. His name is on a certificate with the other original officers: John Tearpock, Frank Kadtke Jr., Felix Kotz, James Cavalini, Antonio Sarday, Louis Rozelli, John Charnitski and George Volovage.
Local fire companies have a long history of cooperation, Briggs said.
And, historian Frank Evina, who is retired from the Library of Congress, remembers how a siren would signal a fire when he was growing up in Mocanaqua. Various combinations of long blasts and shorts blasts would let people know the location.
Whenever the siren would go off, Evina remembered, “the whole town would freeze.”
Evina was glad to welcome area native Carol Kalinoski to the celebration. Kalinoski, now of Alexandria, Va., donated to the Mocanaqua Fire Co. two vintage photos that show the firetrucks it used during the 1920s and the 1950s. The photos have been enlarged and framed for display.
And as generations of firefighters gathered at long tables, Erica Kubasek got ready to share the meal with her husband, son and father-in-law. Her son, Bryson, knows his dad, Eric, and grandfather, Tom, have served as firefighters.
Mom thinks her son will follow in their footsteps.
“He’s 8 years old,” she said. “And he’s talking about it already.”