Fundraising Underway to Update Fire Call Boxes in Schuylkill County, PA

When modern technology isn’t available for calling in emergencies, fire boxes are still a reliable way to summon help in several Schuylkill County communities, local advocates for the vintage technology say.

There are hundreds of the devices spread throughout Pottsville, Shenandoah, Tamaqua and Saint Clair — some in place since 1890 — and the system in Mahanoy City will soon be back in operation, too.

While many of the original parts on the machines still work, much of the wiring is in need of replacement, which comes at a cost.

Therefore, a group of longtime emergency responders in Schuylkill is working to raise money to replace wires to fire boxes in Pottsville and then hopefully in the other communities with the devices.

The group recently started a GoFundMe page to encourage donations and is working towards getting 501c3 status as a nonprofit. It hopes to bring in private grants, as well as contributions of money and possibly wiring from the public, and may also hold fundraisers.

“These systems are remarkable, and they should be preserved,” said Michael Kitsock, curator the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society, a Shenandoah-based group helping lead the effort to keep the machines operational.

Boston and San Francisco are among the cities that still use fire boxes, which demonstrates their practicality, said paramedic Jackie Ginther of Pottsville, who is a member of the group looking to raise money.

Ginther referred to local cellular outages in February and September in which tens of thousands of customers lost service, most of whom didn’t have landlines, meaning a fire box may have been there only way to call for help in an emergency.

There are times when 911 center outages also occur, when again the fire boxes could be valuable, she said.

“What happens when you have an emergency, and you have no access to a phone?” Ginther asked.

Last year she responded to a call near Saint Clair in which a woman fleeing a domestic attack in her home was also having an asthmatic episode and couldn’t call 911. It was late and she knocked on doors but no one answered, leaving the fire box as her best option. Paramedics responded and gave her the medical aid she needed.

There are 119 of the devices spread through the seven wards of Pottsville, which is one of two towns in Schuylkill, along with Tamaqua, where a pull of the handle alerts not just the fire stations in the borough but also the county 911 center. In Shenandoah and Saint Clair the activation signals just the fire stations in the community, and the same will be true in Mahanoy City once service is restored.

In Pottsville and some other communities the boxes also activate the sirens on the firehouses.

Boxes in the city are typically pulled a few times a year, said Pottsville Fire Chief James Misstishin.

“They’re good to have when there is a power outage, or the 911 system or cell towers are down,” he said. “These will always work. They’re a backup, but they really can help.”

But there are 37 miles of wires to Pottsville’s boxes, and though some have been replaced over the years, much of it is antiquated and would cost about $100,000 to replace, Kitsock said.

Replacing wires in the four other municipalities with fire boxes would bring additional costs.

Andy Gudinas shows off the internal mechanism for a firebox on Mahantongo Street in Pottsville, Friday. He’s part of a group raising money to repair and maintain fire boxes in Schuylkill County. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR)

While the city of Pottsville allocated $3,500 toward fire boxes this year, that money is used quickly for small patches to the system. Misstishin said.

Scott Krater, director of the Schuylkill County 911 center, said he didn’t know exactly how many calls from fire boxes the center receives.

If someone is able to call 911 from a cellular or landline phone then that is their best option, he said, since that allows them to speak with a dispatcher and give the exact address and nature of the emergency.

“The responder would like a picture of what’s happening at the scene before they arrive there,” he said.

When a fire box is pulled, fire companies, ambulance crews and police are all dispatched since the specifics of the emergency are unknown, he said. Those who pull the box are asked to stay at the location to explain what the problem is.

Krater said he understands the nostalgia for the boxes, which before 911 started in the U.S. in 1968 were crucial to making emergency calls.

And when all else fails and someone has no phone or service to call the communications center, they are a good backup, he said.

“It’s an alternate means,” he said.

Andy Gudinas, who grew up in Pottsville and works as a paramedic in the city, said the local group advocating for fire boxes is committed to the task of maintaining them. It includes volunteers who can do some of the wiring replacements and who over the years have worked with Pottsville firefighters to check on and service the boxes.

“We know that with proper care and assistance, these boxes can be around in another 100 years,” Gudinas said. “They do not fail. And even if they save one life, they’ve paid for themselves.”

Ginther said spreading word about the fire boxes is also part of her group’s mission, since the fire boxes are only helpful if people are aware of them.

“We hear people say, ‘I didn’t know these things still existed,’” she said. “People need to know.”

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