McKean County Commissioner Tom Kreiner.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Tri County Fire School President Jack Fowler
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Era photo by Jay Bradish

Firefighters trained last weekend at The Tri-County Volunteer Firemen’s Association Fire School in Smethport.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Basic Chainsaw Safety class.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Basic Chainsaw Safety class.

The original burn tower.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

The original burn tower.

Scanner
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Firefighters trained last weekend at The Tri-County Volunteer Firemen’s Association Fire School in Smethport.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Lanny Layton
Era photo by Jay Bradish

State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint (center), presents a citation to Jack Fowler, left, and Dan Burkhouse.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Firefighters trained last weekend at The Tri-County Volunteer Firemen’s Association Fire School in Smethport. The fire school is marking its 60th year of training local firefighters. Shown, crews extinguish a simulated tank truck fire using a prop that burns propane.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Firefighters extinguish a simulated vehicle fire that burns propane.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

In the early years of fire school firefighters practiced extinguishing flammable liquid fires that burned oil and diesel fuel that gave off dense black smoke.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

In the early years of fire school firefighters practiced extinguishing flammable liquid fires that burned oil and diesel fuel that gave off dense black smoke.

In the early years of fire school firefighters practiced extinguishing flammable liquid fires that burned oil and diesel fuel that gave off dense black smoke.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Forcible Entry class.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Forcible Entry class.

Tri-County Fire School's current burn tower that will soon receive a $300,000 addition.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Pump I class.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Pump I class.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Pump I class.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Pump I class.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Tri County Fire School President Jack Fowler, McKean County Commissioners Carol Duffy, Tom Kreiner and Marty Wilder, Fire School Chief Director Dan Burkhouse.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Fire School Chief Director Dan Burkhouse.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Commissioner Tom Kreiner, center, along with Fire School directors, from left, Tim Burkhouse, Mike Burgoon, Cindy Burkhouse, Judy Larson, Harry Lamielle and Jack Fowler, break ground Saturday for the $300,000 addition to the burn building at the Tri-County Fire School in Smethport.
Era photo by Jay Bradish

Classes were originally held in tents in the fields at fire school.

Classes were originally held in tents in the fields at fire school.

Classes were originally held in tents in the fields at fire school.

🞬

❮❯

SMETHPORT — The Tri-County Volunteer Firemen’s Association Fire School celebrated its 60th anniversary this weekend in Smethport.

The highlight of the event was the groundbreaking ceremony for the Burn Building addition, held at noon Saturday. Fire School Chief Director Dan Burkhouse of Bradford Township was the master of ceremonies. He detailed efforts to keep the three-story burn building functional and in use, and the ongoing fundraising efforts to complete the project. The building was constructed in 1969 at a cost of $5,000 and has undergone several renovations and enhancements over the years with the last being in 2000. The new addition will cost $300,000 and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2026.

State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, presented Tri-County Fire School with a citation recognizing the school for 60 years of training emergency responders. McKean County Commissioners Tom Kreiner, Marty Wilder and Carol Duffy were also present. McKean County ARPA Coordinator Dana Crisp also attended as she assisted in obtaining funds for the project. Lanny Layton, Butler County Community College Northwestern representative spoke about the fire school’s value in educating volunteer firemen in northwestern Pennsylvania. In all, more than 60 people attended the ceremony.

The first fire school was held Aug. 26 and 27, 1965, with 181 students and 13 instructors. Classes met in tents in a field on the fire school property as there were no classroom buildings. Early smoke training was done in a chicken coop and then a house. In 1967, a ladder tower was constructed out of four utility poles — and was used until 1989, when it was replaced with the steel tower that is still in use today. An oil tank fire prop was installed in 1967, and a tanker truck fire prop was installed in 1972. These two props are very important training tools and were replaced in 2015 and modified to use propane as their fuel for fires instead of crude oil and diesel fuel.

The first building was the office, built in 1967. The classroom building went up in 1987.

Attendance at the annual May fire school weekend continued to grow, drawing firemen from Pennsylvania and New York state to its classes. In 1973, attendance was 445; in 1980, attendance peaked at 800 students. Classrooms and the cafeteria at Smethport High School were used during this period. In the 1990s attendance started to decrease as the number of volunteer firefighters declined in Pennsylvania, and nationwide. Today, fire school is held on three weekends, in addition to the Essentials Class, and trains approximately 350 firefighters a year.

Classes held this weekend included Pump I, Forceable Entry, Basic Chainsaw Safety and Basic Search. The Chainsaw Safety and Basic Search classes were taught by staff from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Current officers and directors of Tri-County Fire School are President Jack Fowler of Johnsonburg; Vice President Ken Weidow of St. Marys; Secretary Cindy Burkhouse of Bradford Township; Treasurer Judy Larson of Lewis Run; Chief Director Burkhouse; and Assistant Chief Director Harry Lamielle of Bradford Township. Other members of the board are Tim Burkhouse of Bradford Township; and Mike Burgoon and Mike McConnell of Rew.