HAPPY THANKSGIVING

November 27, 2019

The officers and members of the Alert Fire Co. No. 1 would like to wish you and your family a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Wed 11

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

December 21 @ 9:00 am - 5:30 pm

Mon 30

Company Business Meeting

December 30 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Alert Fire Co. No. 1

3 days ago

We would like to honor our real heroes, who made the ultimate sacrifice by defending our country 78 years ago, today, on December 7, 1941.

And, to recognize those who survived the attack on that day. We will always remember and never forget. You were truly the Greatest Generation! ... See MoreSee Less

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Alert Fire Co. No. 1

5 days ago

TBT - 70 Years ago on December 1, 1949, the Downingtown Fire Dept. was featured in an article published in the national publication of Fire Engineering, for being the first volunteer fire deptartment, independently owned two-way radio system in the United States.

As you may remember, our Facebook TBT articles about new radio system started in March 2019. The Alert Captain Bill Backenstose, championed the cause of implementing this new radio system. In late 1948 and early 1949, Bill proposed to the Chester County Firemens Association and the Chester County Commissioners that we needed a central county fire radio system. It was noted in the project file that everybody supported the idea however, funds from the county were not available! So, the Downingtown Fire Dept., with help from U.S. Congressman Paul Dague, we were able to place the high band radio system (154.31 Mhz - Station KGA-366) in service, in October 1949. And, after 70 years, the volunteers of Alert Fire Co. No. 1 and the Minquas Fire Company No. 2 continue to use this frequency.

Below, is the magazine article that appeared in the December 1, 1949 edition of Fire Engineering magazine:

DOWNINGTOWN VOLUNTEERS HAVE COMPLETE RADIO FACILITIES
December 1, 1949 - Fire Engineering Magazine

Five of Six Trucks Equipped with Two-Way Radios; Walkie-Talkies also Employed

The State of Pennsylvania is noted for its volunteer fire service. Its volunteer fire departments are rapidly becoming noted for their use of radio fire communications facilities. Pennsylvania has already adopted the statewide plan of radio frequency allocation advocated by both the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the International Municipal Signal Association. Already several counties of the state are organizing radio communications on a mutual aid basis.

The first of the state’s smaller communities to install radios throughout its entire apparatus fleet and have its own radio frequency independent of police or other radio, is the Borough of Downingtown, in Chester County.

Downingtown, although of only 4,900 population (1948 est.) boasts one of the largest and best equipped fire departments to be found in communities of its size. Its two companies - Alert No. 1 and Minquas No. 2, possess six pieces of equipment as follows: Alert - Quad and 750 GPM pumper; Minquas - two 750 GPM pumpers, Emergency Truck and Ambulance.

Four of the town’s five trucks now carry radio transmitters and receivers with which they can communicate with the base station in the Alert fire house, and each of the four trucks carries two walkie-talkies, operating on a different frequency, for on-the-fire-ground communication.

Although still in the experimental stage, Downingtown’s radio has proved its value as a real asset in fire control. When the Downingtown department was called to the aid of neighboring Coatesville to help fight the serious fire in the Lipkins store early in October, the radio proved invaluable. It is said to be the first time in the State that a radio was used by volunteers not only at the scene of the fire, but to summon aid. Responding to the radioed appeals sent out over the Downingtown frequency, fire forces came down from as far away as Malvern and West Chester.

Although Downingtown officials still consider their radio installation something to be further explored, they already come to rely upon it, and one officer said he wondered how they ever got along without it. Just to illustrate its ramifications, the Downingtown’s radio was pressed into service during the recent West Chester Sesquicentennial parade to round up ‘lost’ fire units.

Downingtown fire fighters look forward to the time when other Chester County fire companies will have installed similar equipment. They are already considering plans whereby the Downingtown base station, centrally located as it is in the County, can act for the entire area on a mutual aid and disaster basis. Reviewing the County's fire losses and the entire problem of mutual aid response and other operations, they believe that a countywide radio network, such as is being enjoyed elsewhere would appreciably reduce fire loss totals.

Spark plug of Downingtown’s radio installation is Alert’s Captain Bill Backenstose. Once “sold” on two-way radio communications for the fire service, Captain Backenstose became the prime mover in the long negotiations between fire units of the community and with the Federal Communications Commission. He and his fellow firemen were not content to have two way radio installations on apparatus only; they went after and secured walkie-talkies. In this respect, at least, Downingtown can, we believe, claim a real “first” at being the initial community of its size in the nation to install walkie-talkies as regular equipment on its fire apparatus.

Fire Chief E. Atlee Ney and Captain Backenstose, in fact, all the vamps of the Borough, have found their radio installation has given them a big lift in morale and enthusiasm as well as proving a valuable firefighting facility. Throughout the County, and even further, the Downingtown Fire Department is on the map and, with its radio, “on the button!” Locally the Borough folks are likewise impressed. The local newspaper, “The Archive” in October devoted nearly a full page to its illustrated story of the Downingtown radio installation, some of the pictures of which are reproduced on these pages. ... See MoreSee Less