Written by Steve Bailey, Captain-Marietta Special Fire Police
The Marietta Special Fire Police was formed in the 1930s, I think, to basically give the older
members of the fire company a job when they could no longer actively fight fires. In 1988, the
Fire Police separated from the Fire Company and became a separate volunteer organization under the authority of the mayor of Marietta and Susquehanna Regional Police Department. However, the members of the Fire Police are still required to be members of the Marietta Fire Company, under the regulations of the state of PA. Fire police groups that are separate from fire companies are known as Special Fire Police.
Marietta Special Fire Police are a 100% volunteer organization, and every year our ranks are
getting smaller. I fear that if we don’t get some new volunteers, this organization will be gone
by NEXT YEAR.
Q: What are some of the requirements to join the Marietta Special Fire Police?
A: All officers must join the fire company and then take the basic fire police course within one
year. The Marietta Special Fire Police pays for all training and equipment. There are other
restrictions that we will explain to you. You do not get to put a blue light on your car right away
and run to fires.
Q: Where do we get our funding?
A: We do not get anything from the fire tax. Our budget from the Borough is $500, plus we get money from the state Fireman’s Relief Association for safety equipment. We rely on public donations and donations we get for doing parades and events, but we can’t charge for our services. Our main job is traffic and crowd control at emergency and non-emergency scenes. We watch the backs of our first responders so that they can save lives without losing theirs. We are down to four officers, and during the day I am usually the only one responding. When we get a call, we often have to call several other fire police units to assist us and we often have to out other units who are short on officers.
We would also like to form a support group of people who would be interested in helping us with
other tasks to keep our organization going such as fund-raising events, manning our stands at
events like Marietta Day, and helping with administrative work.
If anyone is interested in more information, they can contact me at mariettaema@comcast.net
and I will get back to you.