History of the Washington Fire Company Community Ambulance
The Washington Fire Company Ambulance service, which too often is taken for granted, was organized in 1936. In this year the Studebaker Ambulance was purchased.
The association came into being when several members of the Washington Fire Company decided to establish some whileworth project in the community. After discussing the situation with the fire company members. They received permission from St. Joseph's Church to hold a public meeting in St. Joseph's Hall, to place their plans before the public.
At the meeting, the group proposed establishment of a community ambulance service, and the plan met with hearty approval, by those present. An ambulance board was established consisting of six members of the public, and seven representatives of the Washington Fire Company No. 1. The association was named the Washington Fire Company Community Ambulance Association. The original ambulance board consisted of the following people:
The need for a local ambulance service for Ashland and the surrounding
area was born out of the fact that previous to 1936, the only ambulance
available to the area was based at Ashland State General Hospital. They
had a very large area to cover with the limited personnel on duty to man
it. The collieries, for many years, maintained their own spring board
wagons, drawn by mules, to transport their accident cases to the
hospitals.
The 1936 Studebaker Ambulance was purchased with funds raised by
donations from townspeople. The bingo committee of the Washington Fire
Company No. 1, donated one thousand dollars from the penny bingo that
was held there. The first trip for the local ambulance was to transport
Michael Corrigan of Byrnsville to Ashland State General Hospital.
Many ambulances and four rescue trucks have been involved in the history
of the ambulance association since 1936. In the early 1970's, the
Ambulance Association was the FIRST in Schuylkill County to purchase a
"Jaws of Life." The "Jaws of Life was originally carried in a Cadillac
Ambulance. Later, the rescue truck in Ashland was born. The ambulance
association purchased a 1972 Ford Bronco truck to carry more Highway
Rescue equipment for vehicle accidents. The association serves
approximately 10,000 citizens residing in Ashland Borough, Gordon
Borough, and Butler Township areas, and works in cooperation with
Girardville and Centralia Community Ambulances to cover each other's
territory when an ambulance is out of service for any reason.
The ambulance was originally housed inside the Washington Fire Company
until 1996 when the ambulance board moved them into the new building.
This was built to the left of the Washington Fire Company and houses two
ambulances and a rescue truck. In 2018, a new building was erected to
the right of the Washington Fire Company which has a staff lounge,
kitchen, offices, and a meeting/training room.
Full and part-time EMTs, part time EMR's, and volunteer members of the
Washington Fire Company comprise ambulance crews and board members.
In-service training, upgrading, and purchasing of new applicable
equipment is constant. The first trained EMT's to serve Ashland were
James Fetterolf, Frank Rice and Edward Wallace.
