Macungie Firefighter Fred Reimer Has Stories to Tell

Name:  Fred Reimer

Age:  65

Lives:  Macungie

Family:  wife, Nancy, and one son

Job:  currently a school bus driver; retired after 35 years as a printing press operator

Fire company:  Macungie Fire Department

Training so far: 

“I am trained as a chief engineer, fire police captain, emergency medical responder and vehicle rescue technician.  Training never stops — it is ongoing in everything.”

What's it like being a firefighter? 

“I started in 1979 and am the oldest volunteer in the department.  It’s a lot of hard work and not a job for everybody. 

You have to be able to leave the job here [fire company] when you go home; otherwise you will keep thinking about it.  And some stuff you don’t want to remember.  It’s tough when you get to an accident scene and see it’s somebody you know.  That’s when you step back and let the others handle it.”

How do your loved ones feel about you putting your life in danger? 

“They are very supportive of me and of the sometimes long hours I put in.”

Tell us a story you'll never forget about your firefighting experience. 

“I have lots of stories — although I don’t remember when they happened.  I remember when the shoe factory in town [Macungie] burned around Easter one year.  They also rented costumes, and we managed to save all the bunny costumes!

“Then there was the time the train hit a truck hauling mayonnaise—it was all over the place.  What a mess.

“When the tornado went through Macungie, we were out for 30 hours straight.  The Red Cross came and told us we had to eat something.  It was pouring rain and we sat there eating this awful-tasting beef stew—but it was hot and something to eat.

“I fought the [1989] Dries Building fire.  I was inside when a container of flammable material rocketed into the air covering me with burning debris.  The guys got me out of the building and had to put me out.

“I was in the Macungie Hotel when it burned to the ground.  We were on a staircase when it gave way. We bailed out the third floor window and landed on a walk-in cooler.”

What would you tell people interested in joining your fire company? 

“There’s a lot of training and it never stops.  It’s like having a second job, and your fellow volunteers become a second family.  This is also a place where I see white-collar workers come and do a blue-collar job.”

Do you know a volunteer firefighter who Patch should profile? Contact mariella.savidge@patch.com