A familiar West Grove resident is returning as Fire Chief, the result of annual elections at the West Grove Fire Company. John Chambers was elected fire chief and Tom Glass was elected president of the WGFC, which serves the communities of Southern Chester County in and around the Avon Grove School District.

John Chambers is no stranger to the office of Fire Chief of the WGFC. John has the distinction of serving the longest continuous tenure as Fire Chief of the WGFC, having served in that role for 23 years from 1984 until 2006. He was honored for that service in March of 2007 (see: http://www.wgfc.org/apps/public/news/newsView.cfm?News_ID=96), named Chief Emeritus for his lifetime achievements, and now returns to that role for 2016. John most recently served as the WGFC President.

Tom Glass, long time WGFC volunteer and a recognized public servant in emergency services, was elected as President for 2016. Tom currently serves as Deputy Director of the Chester County Department of Emergency Services.

Also elected for 2016 were:

Administrative Officers
Tom Glass, President
Mike Miller, Vice President
Bill Wohl, Secretary
Mark Neils, Treasurer
Trustee, Jim Malone
Trustee, Dan O'Connell
Membership Secretary, Bob Dando
State Convention Delegate, Steve Flegal
Alternate Delegate State Convention, John Chambers

Line Officers
John Chambers, Fire Chief
Justin Gattorno, Deputy Chief
Bob Hannan, Assistant Chief
Tim Shannon, First Captain
Norman Forde, Second Captain
Tony Gialloretto, First Lieutenant
Dan O'Connell, Second Lieutenant
Chief Engineer, Lary Hicks
First Assistant Engineer, Scott McLimans
Second Assistant Engineer, Jeff Simpson
Fire Police Captain, Craig Miller
Fire Police Lieutenant, Phil Howard
Ambulance Captain, Danielle Hughes

Outgoing Fire Chief Eric Felker leaves office today with a strong record of accomplishments, since his election in 2013:
--An aggressive and widely expanded fire training program, including weekly in-house sessions, expanded participation in county and regional and national training, designed to speed response, improve officer fireground decision making and create a safer operating environment
--Proactive work to improve the WGFC ISO rating, which can lower fire insurance costs for area residents
--A program of multi-year apparatus, staffing and facility strategic planning, including use of professional consultants' assistance in fleet planning, apparatus safety and maintenance planning and review
--Extensive, and progressive health screening and firefighter wellness checks
--Proactive and transparent communications and relations with township and municipal elected officials leading to creation of a stable and appropriate funding mechanism with the townships in support of EMS staffing and expenses
--Assistance from the townships to pay for expanded use of paid full and part time career staff to supplement volunteers, while facilitating a more professional mixed department operation leading to increased response times
--Gaining support from elected officials to start and fund a volunteer incentive program, designed to find and retain volunteers as an offset to rising career staff costs.

Congratulations to the incoming officers for 2016, and for the service to the greater Avon Grove community by all WGFC officers and volunteers and career staff this year.

About the West Grove Fire Company

The West Grove Fire Company was founded in 1904 at the corner of Prospect and Walnut Streets in West Grove. The company is a "combination" department, meaning it has both volunteer and career personnel. Volunteers still make up much of the emergency response and run the organization, however a dedicated team of career staff provide important work particularly in the daytime, and 24 hours per day on the ambulance. The department operates a fleet of three engines, two rescues, a ladder, a field truck, a tanker, three BLS ambulances, a squad, a utility, chiefs' trucks and a 1928 antique.

The company runs nearly 600 fire incidents and more than 2200 ambulance calls per year. It operates from three stations -- in West Grove, New London, and London Britain township.

The West Grove Fire Company covers nearly 68 square miles of first due territory, including all of West Grove Borough, Penn and New London Townships. Additionally, the WGFC covers most of London Grove Township, in areas roughly west of a point just east of the Avon Grove Charter School. The fire company covers most of Franklin and London Britain townships, covering points west of a line running roughly along Auburn Road (north to south). Our district runs from the Delaware/Maryland border in the south, all the way north to the northern edges of London Grove and Penn Townships. The ambulance also covers a portion of Londonderry Township (mostly south and east from Cochranville), adding another 20 square miles to the total district size.