Alert Fire Co. No. 1

05/30/2026

PSA - There will be fire hydrant flushing, next week in Downingtown.

https://www.dtownwater.com/news/hydrant-flushing-5312026-642026

05/28/2026

TBT - 15 Years ago, on May 30, 2011, the Alert No. 1 and Minquas Fire Company No. 2 volunteers were honored to participate in the Annual Downingtown Area Memorial Day Parade and Memorial Ceremony at the Downingtown Veterans Memorial, sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars - Post 845 - Downingtown, PA.

The photos are courtesy of Joel Gramling.

05/25/2026

The Alert No. 1 volunteers were honored today, to participate in the Annual Downingtown Area Memorial Day Parade and Memorial Service, conducted at Kerr Park. This annual event was sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars - Post 845 - Downingtown, PA.

Some of the photos are courtesy of IrishEyez Chesco.

05/25/2026

The members and officers of the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 extend our deepest condolences to the entire Turner family and the members of our mutual aid partner, the West Whiteland Fire Company, following the passing of Past Fire Chief George “Bud” Turner.

Chief Turner dedicated nearly 57 years of service to the Exton area community and remained actively serving until his final day. Bud was a friend and a mentor of the members of Alert and the Downingtown Fire Dept. His legacy, leadership, commitment, and sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Rest In Peace, Chief.

05/25/2026

The members and officers of the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 would like to wish you and your family a meaningful and safe Memorial Day. Let us never forget the sacrifices that our men and women of the Armed Services have made defending our freedoms.

05/21/2026

TBT - 85 Years ago, on May 26, 1941, the volunteers of Alert No. 1 officially moved into our second firehouse (the third location in a two square block area) and conducted the regular monthly business meeting in the new building. Below, is an excerpt from the "History of the Alert Fire Co. No. 1":

"The first meeting was held in the new building on May 26, 1941 with President W. I Po***ck, Jr. at the head table. The total construction of the building cost $45,000. The following comments about the newest fire station in Chester County were written in a June 20th front-page article of the Daily Local News. “The beautiful all gray stone two story building with a slate roof had an overall size of 125ft. x 53 ft., a spacious engine room that was 58ft. x 24ft. and featured one of the first, new electric overhead doors and “newfangled” fluorescent lights in Chester County. On the second floor, there is a 70ft. x 50ft. auditorium with space for 360 seats for a banquet or 520 seats for a show. The stage is a spacious 24ft. x 18ft. with a heavy weight crimson curtain and a stately “AFC” embroidered in gold. The Ladies Auxiliary also purchased $2,100. worth of new equipment, dishes, utensils and glassware to be used for banquets and parties.”

05/21/2026

Earlier this evening, the Alert No. 1 and the Minquas Fire Company No. 2 volunteers reviewed the basic box cribbing operation for auto accidents, during the early evening rain storm. Additionally, the team was introduced to our new rescue struts called Res-Q-Jack. These two new struts will be carried on Engine 45 and will be used for vehicle stabilization during auto accidents.

05/19/2026

Last evening, at our monthly business meeting, some of our volunteers were honored for their service and dedication to the community through several newly created awards in honor of past, two-term Downingtown Fire Dept. Fire Chief Hallan J. Usher and his wife, Arvilla Reynolds Usher, along with the first female to serve in the Minquas Fire Company No. 2 ambulance corps, Harriet D. Usher. Harriet was the sister of Hallan.

The Hallan J. Usher and Arvilla Reynolds Usher Distinguished Service Award recognized Marina Simmers for her outstanding dedication and achievements to the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 and Robert Miller for his outstanding dedication and achievements to the Downingtown Fire Police during the 2025 response year.

Presenting the 2025 Distinguished Service Awards on behalf of the Usher family were Donna Usher, Glenn Usher, JoAnn Yaworski-Usher and Andrew Murphy. Rose Ciarlone from La Sponda Restaurant in Downingtown presented a dinner gift certificates to Marina and Robert, as well.

A $500 dollar scholarship fund has also been established in the name of Hallan J. Usher and Harriet D. Usher at Delaware County Community College for any current Chester County first responders who wish to earn a two-year Associates Degree in Paramedic - Advanced Life Support (A.A.S.), or the Associates Degree in Emergency Management and Planning (A.A.S.).

In addition to the Distinguished Service Awards, President Chris Keen presented Life Memberships to Susan Schoellkopf and Judy Rambo. Length of Service Awards to Vince Panetti - 55 years, Blair Hackel Stevens - 10 years, Renae Siter - 10 years and Brian Poulin - 5 years.

Congratulations to all of our volunteers and thank you for your dedication and service to our Good Neighbor Community.

05/17/2026

Time to Remove the 85 Year Old Slate!

The Downingtown Area Historical Society publishes a weekly segment titled "Then and Now". It is time for our own "Then and Now" photos! Our current firehouse was constructed in 1940-1941, with our first meeting taking place in the new building, 85 years ago, on May 26, 1941. Over the years, we have made several renovations, remodeled some portions of the interior and constructed a new Engine Room addition in 1984.

However, this week, we started our largest renovation in the history of the company - we are replacing the original, 85 year old slate roof! Over the next few weeks you will be noticing our roofing contractor, United Veterans Roofing of Newtown, PA removing the old slate roof and replacing it with a new low maintenance premium metal roof on our 1941 stone building. After this roof is replaced, we then will replace the flat roof on our 1984 Engine Room addition. President Chris Keen commented at our last company meeting, "we certainly got our money's worth with the old roof and this new metal roof should last us another 85 years".

We have been planning and saving for this new roof for several years. However, over the past five years, we needed to use some of our savings for some unplanned projects, such as, the need to replace all four of our Engine Room bay doors, because they failed to open during some of our emergency calls and a new furnace which was starting to cost us more money in maintenance repairs.

Our Long Range Planning Committee is currently working on and planning other projects, such as replacing all of our interior and exterior lighting to be LED, replacing some of our 85 year old electric wiring and a new whole building generator.

Most people do not realize that our 100% volunteer company owns our building and property, which means that we are responsible for payment of all of our utilities and daily maintenance of our beautiful building and property. We have applied for a low interest 2% loan to help pay for these current projects and in the next few months, we will be announcing a new Capital Donation Campaign.

So, over the next few weeks, please use caution around our firehouse, during our roof construction project and feel free to stop-by and find out how you can be a part of our 139 year old volunteer organization of People Helping People!

05/17/2026

The members and officers of the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 would like to wish the members of the Minquas Fire Company No. 2 EMS and EMS across the nation a Happy and Safe EMS Week!