Highland Hose firefighters mark 50 years of service

Dave Torrence vividly remembers his first fire call in 1974 with the Highland Hose Volunteer Fire Company — it was the night he joined the Tarentum department.

“I got in bed and the whistle blew,” said Torrence, 72, a lifelong borough resident. “I just thought, ‘Here we go.’ ”

Fellow Highland Hose firefighter Sam Huey remembers his first response, too.

“There was a mom-and-pop grocery store on the corner and a fire started in the basement,” said Huey, 68, who grew up in Tarentum and now lives in Harrison.

“The lady who ran it and her nephew both died. It was awful. No sooner did we get that fire out than we got a call that Citizens Hose was on fire. It was a long night.”

Torrence worked for 42 years as a press operator at the Valley News Dispatch/USA Today before retiring, and Huey is a retired federal officer of the U.S. Treasury Department.

The friends spent time reminiscing about their 50 years with the department — an achievement not met by many today.

“Highland Hose has been blessed with good members,” President Bob Stoebener said. “We’re very fortunate to have had a tradition of people like this, who have contributed to different committees and given their time.”

The 50-year milestone is not lost on anyone at the East Eighth Avenue station, Stoebener said.

The number of volunteer firefighters across the state has dipped dramatically since 2000, from 60,000 to 38,000, according to the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute.

It’s one-tenth of the total the state had in the 1970s when Torrence and Huey joined.

In those days, joining the fire department was a rite of passage, the men agreed.

“I remember being a little kid and when that siren went off, you’d hear my dad fly down the steps and out the front door,” Torrence said. “I can remember that like it was yesterday.”

His grandfather also was a member of the company, dating to 1921.

Huey, too, comes from a long line of firefighters that included his grandfather, father, brothers and uncles.

“Every Saturday at noon, they would test the siren and I would get to go down with my dad and push the button,” he said. “He was the custodian here, and I would come down and push the mop around. We were always here.”

Highland Hose was founded in 1894 as the First Ward Fire Company. It was officially renamed in 1913.

For many decades, the company was flush with active members. The roster sat at about 40, but now hovers at about 15.

“It took me five years to get an air tank and be an interior firefighter because there were so many of us that showed up to every call,” Huey said.

Back then, more people worked shifts and “you could get 15 people easily to come out at 2 in the afternoon,” he said.

“Now, you’re lucky if you get a driver and one other. They have to call more departments to every scene.”

Rigorous training and time commitments imposed by the state also cut into people’s desire to volunteer, Torrence said.

“We trained right at the firehall,” he said. “We had three hours every Tuesday.”

Huey and Torrence each said they wouldn’t trade their years of serving the community for anything, despite the dangers and pitfalls that came with the job.

“I fell through the floor at a house fire on 11th Avenue,” Torrence said. “On any call, you have some nerves, but that was the most scared I ever was.”

The pair shared disappointment in the changing tide of volunteerism.

On any given night, members would fill the fire station to play cards and pool or “just sit and B.S.”

“It’s a shame the young people don’t take more interest,” Torrence said. “It was nice camaraderie. We made friends for life.”

Added Huey: “It was the best time I ever had.”