MONTOURSVILLE, Pa. -- A fire company in Lycoming County is hoping to preserve its history through photos, and now, they are asking the community for help.
Curiosity led a group of firefighters at Willing Hand Hose Company in Montoursville to uncover a safe full of pictures and documents. Some of the documents date back to 1894, the year the company was founded.
Firefighter Sam Burkett has helped organize some of the hundreds of pictures into piles. For Burkett, reading handwritten incident reports is like taking a step back into the hose company's history.
"They kind of highlight exactly how much the fire service has changed since 1905, but also how similar it is. It's still the issues we have with accessing water and getting water on the fire. Sometimes especially rural locations can be an issue," Burkett said.
Hoping to collect even more pictures for their 125th anniversary in Montoursville, members of the fire company are now reaching out to their community for help.
"Somebody sent us this picture on Facebook. This is just a photocopy obviously, but we got it that way, too, which is appreciated because we wouldn't be able to find this kind of history," Burkett said.
The hose company hopes to share the pictures and other memorabilia at a celebration later this year.
"It's history. It's who we are. It's part of our heritage. We should be preserving this for future generations, maybe putting it on display around the station. It shouldn't just be sitting in the dark collecting dust in the basement."
People who have pictures should contact the Willing Hand Hose Company in Montoursville.