Swatara Fire-Rescue

05/30/2026

Please join us in congratulating Firefighters Colby Speck, Kevin Huber, and Nick Brown on successfully completing their Interior Firefighter class, which concluded today with a live fire burn evolution.

Over the course of the program, these members dedicated countless hours to hands-on training, classroom instruction, and developing the skills needed to operate safely and effectively on the fireground.

The hard work does not stop here — all three firefighters will soon be testing for their Firefighter 1 Certification.

Congratulations gentlemen, and best of luck on your upcoming certification testing! 🚒🔥

05/30/2026

05/25/2026

This morning Squad 91-5 attended the annual Memorial Day Service at Veterans Circle in Rutherford.

Today, we pause to remember and honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation. Their courage and dedication will never be forgotten.

While members attended the ceremony, Swatara Fire-Rescue remains staffed with three crews today and ready to respond to the needs of our community.

Thanks To Jessa Veronica Ivy for use of the photo.

05/16/2026

This evening members of Swatara Fire-Rescue, Colonial Park Fire Co. #1, Paxtonia 34 Fire Company and Rescue Fire Company gathered at Progress Fire 32 for the annual Expo Weekend dinner.

The men and women who regularly run box alarms together had the opportunity to break bread and spend an evening building camaraderie and Brotherhood outside of the emergency scene. After dinner, crews loaded up and made a stop at Rita's Italian Ice to enjoy dessert together.

Thank you to Progress Fire for organizing the evening and extending the invitation. Strong partnerships and relationships built off the fireground continue to strengthen the teamwork displayed on the fireground.

05/13/2026

Earlier this afternoon, Swatara Township Fire-Rescue units responded to assist Progress Fire 32 on a working house fire in their first-due area.

Squad 91 responded as the assigned Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) company and established RIT operations upon arrival.

As the incident progressed, Squad 91 crews were reassigned to assist with fire extinguishment and overhaul operations inside the structure.

Air 91 also responded to the scene to support operations for crews working on the fireground.

STFR personnel operated on scene for approximately 1.5 hours before returning to service.

05/13/2026

Swatara Fire-Rescue personnel continued to meet the needs of our community throughout April while maintaining strong operational performance despite increased call volume and overlapping incidents.

During the month of April, STFR responded to 149 incidents, bringing the year-to-date total to 558 incidents — a 20% increase over the same period in 2025. Crews also managed 28 overlapping incidents during the month, highlighting the continued demand placed on emergency services throughout the Township and surrounding mutual aid areas.

Even with the increase in incidents, our average response time remained at 5 minutes and 25 seconds, staying within our organizational benchmark goal of under 6 minutes.

April staffing and operational highlights included:
🚒 70 active personnel
⏱️ 4,240 staffing hours completed during April
🤝 47 mutual aid incidents between assisting neighboring departments and receiving assistance
🏠 30 households served through our smoke alarm outreach initiatives

We also want to recognize the continued dedication of both our volunteer and career personnel who contributed more than 15,000 staffing hours year-to-date in support of emergency response, training, public education, and community events.

As always, we appreciate the continued support of our residents, visitors, mutual aid partners, and Township leadership as we work together to protect our community.

05/13/2026

Tower 91 and Engine 91-5 responded to assist Lower Paxton Township Bureau of Fire this afternoon. Both units staged and went available a short time after arriving.

05/09/2026

Engine 91-5 spent the morning at training with the Dauphin County Hazardous Materials Response Team. Engine 91-5 participates as part of the Decon Strike Team.

05/09/2026

Squad 91 assisted Steelton Fire Department on this vehicle fire yesterday. This was one of five incidents yesterday. STFR has responded to 35 incidents between Monday May 4th and Friday May 8th!

This evening Engine 50 and Swatara Fire 91 (Engine 91) were dispatched for a vehicle fire. Chief 503 arrived with a working engine compartment fire. Engine 50 arrived and stretched the bumper line.5️⃣0️⃣🚒

05/08/2026

Just before 5:00 PM last evening, Swatara Township Fire-Rescue and mutual aid companies were dispatched to the 5000 block of Lancaster Street for reports of smoke coming from the windows of an apartment building. Dauphin County 911 Center advised responding units that callers were also reporting possible entrapment inside the structure.

Swatara Police Department and Chief 91-6 arrived on scene with smoke showing from the building and confirmed reports of possible entrapment. Squad 91 arrived as the first-due suppression unit and deployed an attack line into the structure while Tower 1 initiated primary searches.

Crews quickly located a fire on the first floor with extension into the second floor. Crews worked aggressively to open up walls and ceilings to locate and extinguish hidden hot spots and flare-ups. Due to the coordinated efforts of all responding personnel, the fire was placed under control in less than one hour.

All searches of the building were negative and no injuries were reported.

Photo courtesy of Capital City Fire Photos