Membership

Get involved and help your community! The Good Will Fire Company is always looking for volunteers.

Why Join Good Will?

You will be joining a company with over 170 years of proud tradition in the fire service protecting and serving the communities of West Chester Borough, West Goshen Township, Westtown Township, Birmingham Township, East Bradford Township, and the entire township of Thornbury in Chester County.

14 is the minimum age for joining the Good Will Fire Company.

You can join one of these memberships:

Firefighter

Duties:

A firefighter must be age 18 years or older and interior qualified. A Firefighter should have the certifications  to be interior qualified as well as experience in firefighting. He or she will ride on fire apparatus as part of a crew and provide aid and assistance the public. He or she wishing to become a firefighter is required to take some training classes before he or she can participate in all activities. You may not be a member at any other fire company in the West Chester Fire Department. You will be given a pager which alerts when there is a fire call. Pending a new active fire fighter being voted into the company a criminal background check is done. All members are required to pay $20 upon submitting their application. This money is used to cover the background check. New members have a probationary period in which they can be dismissed at any time.

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Apprentice Firefighter

Duties:

An apprentice firefighter is a person who is over the age of 18 but not interior qualified, aka exterior firefighter. An apprentice can expect to be in a training phase and more so assist the air pack qualified firefighters with different tasks. Apprentice firefighters may take several Chester County emergency services classes. You will ride on fire apparatus and participate in fire department operations. Apprentice firefighters may not leave or miss school due to a fire department operation. You may display a blue emergency light on your vehicle. The Blue Light must follow Pennsylvania State vehicle code and you must use it appropriately. You will be given a pager which alerts when there is a fire call. You will also be given gear at no cost to you an can expect all of your required classes to be paid for by the West Chester Fire Department. An apprentice firefighter will be identified by a WHITE stripe on their helmet.

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Junior Firefighter

Duties:

An Junior firefighter is a person that is 16 or 17 years of age. An apprentice can expect to be in a training phase and more so assist the air pack qualified firefighters with different tasks as well as participate in exterior firefighting operations. Junior firefighters are required to take several Chester County emergency services classes. You will ride on fire apparatus and participate in fire department operations. Junior firefighters may not leave or miss school due to a fire department operation. Junior firefighters may NOT display a blue light on his or her personal vehicle. You will be given a pager which alerts when there is a fire call. You will also be given gear at no cost to you an can expect all of your required classes to be paid for by the West Chester Fire Department. On school nights you may not run fire calls between 12am and 6am. On weekends and days you do not have school the following day it is 1am to 6 am. There is no limit on summer break. An junior firefighter will be identified by an ORANGE helmet.

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Cadet Firefighter

Duties:

As a cadet firefighter 14 and 15 year olds will be able to go to fire calls and assist the firefighters. They will be given gear at no cost to them that they may use it to train and run fire calls. 14 and 15 year olds are required to take several basic training classes before he or she can run calls. A cadet firefighter will not be able to perform many tasks that firefighters over the age of 18 can perform. The company is not required to give a pager to a cadet fire fighter which members 16 and older do receive. Cadets may not go calls after 10 PM or before 7 AM. They are not permitted to leave school or miss school due to a fire call. To become a cadet fire fighter the person or persons wishing to join must be 14 or 15 years old, attend 2 monthly meetings with a parent or guardian and fill out an application which can be picked up at Good Will Fire Company. A cadet firefighter must also acquire working papers for his or her school and have a C or better in all classes at school.

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Social Member

Duties:

Social members participate in fund raising and community events. Social members are deeply relied on for there work in getting our company the money we need to provide our service. You may will organize and set up events either at the fire house or in the community. Social members must be at least 18 years old. Social members may not ride fire apparatus nor will they participate in actual fire fighting. Social members have access to the fire house at any time for use. A social member can participate in any activity except for actual fire fighting. If the person wishing to join is not able to participate in fire department operations or has no desire to, but still would like to be a member and help the company this is for them.

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Fire Police

Duties:

Fire Police Members must be 18 years or older. As a Member of the fire police your duty is to assist State Police, local Police and Fire Personnel with traffic assistance. Fire Police may either ride in Traffic 52 or drive there personal vehicle to the scene in which they are needed. Fire Police members are asked to follow the Pennsylvania State Vehicle Code when purchasing and displaying blue lights. They are given pagers which alerts them when Fire Police are needed. The Good Will Fire Company is greatly in need of Fire Police members. 

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