Our Community
Marple Township’s Fire Police: Helping Ensure a Safe Community Written by Holly Stupak
Photos courtesy of Marple Fire Police
The Fire Police are vital to public safety. In Marple Township, the Fire Police work closely with the Marple Township Police (MTPD) and Broomall Fire Company (BFC) when special calls come in and also during parades, functions, fairs and other special events. The primary responsibility of the Fire Police is to ensure a safe and unobstructed area for firefighters, rescue personnel and emergency vehicles, and to provide spectator and crowd control. We spoke with BFC Chief Tom Dobbins as well as some of the Fire Police volunteers, to find out more about their unit.
Some of the Marple Fire Police at their truck. (L-R) Gordon Egan, Anthony Cavarocchi, Earl Pensyl and Capt. Al Bianchi
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Marple Friends & Neighbors / Bringing People Together
Why does Marple Township have a Fire Police Unit? The BFC Fire Police Unit was developed as a specialized group that helps coordinate automobile and pedestrian traffic in and around an active fire or law enforcement emergency scene. The BFC is fortunate to have a unit like the Fire Police as their main objective is to create a safe working environment around an incident, helping to protect not only our firefighters and other first responders, but the general public as well. Fire Police personnel are sworn public safety officers by Marple Township and work hand in hand with the BFC and our mutual aid partners, including working closely with law enforcement, and are often called upon to assist outside of the township, around the region, with various types of incidents and events. The BFC covers a large area as the single fire/rescue resource including a vast stretch of limited-access highways, often requiring the services of traffic safety personnel, for which our fire police unit fulfills that need. Who is in charge of the Fire Police and what's their responsibilities? Fire Police Captain Al Bianchi’s responsibilities are to coordinate Fire Police activities at any incident. The challenge is to ensure the safety for all the first responders and the public. With limited volunteers who serve as Fire Police, this can often be challenging.
