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Chester County Press

Three cadets graduate fire school from Longwood Fire Company

12/18/2013 09:52AM ● By Acl

Longwood Fire Company gained three new firefighters as Corey Denton, Bas de Vries and Chuck Simmers successfully completed instruction at the Chester County Fire School.

A graduation ceremony for the three new firefighters took place on Dec. 12 at the Wagontown Fire Company. They completed a 10-week course that included 174 hours of instruction.

“We’re happy to have Corey, Bas and Chuck as members of Longwood,” said Chief A.J. McCarthy. “They are dedicated firefighters. We’re looking for additional individuals to become firefighters, and we have a lot of non-firefighting tasks that need to be done. I’m urging interested persons to join Corey, Bas, Chuck and the rest of our dedicated team here at Longwood.”

Denton lives in Pennsbury and got interested in the fire company after some of his friends became members. “They told me what they did,” Denton said. “I joined and soon realized I didn’t want to do anything else. The training I received was fun, and the information I received might save lives one day.”

De Vries is a resident of Newlin and joined Longwood Fire Company as a way to give back to his community. “I was intrigued with firefighting,” de Vries said. “The fire school was a great way to learn all of the basics of firefighting. I’ve already used the skills I learned.”

Simmers has just moved to Kennett Square from Delaware and has been a member of Longwood for the past six month. “I picked Longwood because they are more than just an engine company,” Simmers said. “The instructors at the school showed us how to do our job, be safe and go home to our friends and families after calls.”

Longwood Fire Company has served the communities of Kennett, East Marlborough, Pennsbury and Pocopson townships since 1921.