Lane Buckwalter's earliest memory of his father, Lamar, as a firefighter goes back to 2008, when Lamar was injured in the Dart Container fire. Lane remembers going to pick his father up at the hospital.
That memory did not deter Lane from becoming a junior firefighter on Oct. 5 of this year. "I was always interested in being a firefighter," said Lane, a sophomore at Conestoga Valley High School, who noted that his father's involvement with the Lincoln Fire Company on Market Street in Ephrata, where both are now volunteers, definitely influenced his decision to join. "My dad being active had an impact," he said. "It got me around the firetrucks and the guys at the station."
Lamar, who grew up in Leola, became a firefighter at age 14, running with the Bareville and Upper Leacock crews and later working with Manheim Township. He now serves as a firefighter/EMT with Lincoln, which is close to his place of business. Lamar's father ran with Reamstown Fire Company, but it is his maternal grandfather, Chambersburg resident Clyde Mowen, who receives the credit for inspiring him to join the fire company. "I went to the firehouse with him when I was a kid," Lamar recalled.
Lane's training actually began when he was 14, when he completed CPR and first aid courses. On Oct. 19, he took part in his first training session as a junior firefighter. In his current capacity, Lane can run calls with certain restrictions. He is allowed to pull out the hose, hook up hydrants, change out air cylinders, and repack the hose. He is allowed to go to vehicle rescues, as well as fires, with a restriction for calls to Route 222. "If we get a call on 222, he is allowed to go, but he can't get out of the rescue (vehicle)," explained Lamar.
Father and son have already attended a simulated building fire together. Lane rode in the engine, while Lamar was in the rescue vehicle. "By having him on the engine, I knew he would gain skills," explained Lamar. "I went in and did my job as a rescue, and when I came back out I saw him walking up from where they were staging, and I thought, 'That's my boy.'"
In the future, Lane may take formalized and state certification classes, such as vehicle rescue technician, at the Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center, as well as emergency medical training. However, Lane sees this education as just the beginning. "I plan on being a career firefighter," he noted. With that goal in mind, Lane plans to attend Lancaster County Career and Technology Center, where, as a senior, he can take fire protective services courses.
"I'm looking forward to walking into a fire with my dad," said Lane.
While Lamar agreed that working a fire with Lane will be exciting, he also noted that with his three decades of firefighting experience, he sees that occurrence differently than his son. "I know the risks. I know the territory," he said. "I tell Lane all the time, 'My job as an old firefighter is to make you an old firefighter.'"
According to Lamar, the Lincoln Fire Company volunteers are a diverse group of about 40 active members. Readers who would like to know more about the organization may visit https://lincolnfireco.com.
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