Responsibilities

The Churchill VFC responds to structure fires, vehicle fires, auto accidents, fire alarms, and other emergencies in Churchill. We also offer mutual aid responses to Forest Hills, Wilkins Township, Chalfant and Braddock Hills.  Firefighters are dispatched by the Allegheny County 911 center using radio pagers and a siren located at the Westinghouse site.

Firefighters perform a variety of tasks, including extinguishing fires, rescuing victims from fires or vehicle accidents, and investigating fire alarms and other hazardous situations. 

Emergency calls may come at any time, day or night, and firefighters respond immediately. All firefighters respond directly to the fire station where they dress in protective equipment and are dispatched on the company’s fire engine, rescue truck, or squad truck.  The Churchill VFC is on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In the event of a major fire or vehicle accident, a firefighter may be away from home for several hours or more, although many incidents take less than one hour.

In addition to responding to emergencies, members attend training drills twice a month to practice firefighting and vehicle rescue techniques.  Members also attend monthly business meetings and spend additional time maintaining equipment, vehicles and buildings.

Events

In addition to participating in emergency calls and training, members of the company perform various community service activities, such as Fire Prevention talks at churches and schools in Churchill; Santa and Easter Bunny visits to the Borough; traffic control at the annual Race for Pace; and the Blackridge Halloween and 4th of July parades. To see a list of upcoming events, please check our calendar page.