| The members of the West Grove have elected volunteer Eric Felker as Fire Chief for 2013, along with a full slate of line officers to direct the operations of this combination volunteer and career department that provides fire, rescue and emergency medical services to the greater Avon Grove community.
Chief Felker is a 25+ veteran volunteer firefighter, who comes from a family of firefighters. All three of his brothers are fireman, and Chief Felker's father was a fireman, killed tragically in the line of duty in April of 1978 heroically serving the Collingdale Fire Company #1 in Delaware County, PA.
Chief Felker served as a life member at Collingdale, where he rose to the rank of Fire Chief, serving as Chief in 1999 and 2000. He joined the West Grove Fire Company in 2005, and has served in a variety of roles, including Captain, Assistant Chief and Deputy Chief.
"Even though Collingdale is in my roots, I'm proud and excited to serve as Chief at the West Grove Fire Company," said Chief Felker. "This is a very progressive department, with a highly educated, well-trained, and dedicated team of volunteers, officers and career employees. Who wouldn't want to be Chief of the WGFC; I'm honored to lead this exceptional department in service to this wonderful community."
Chief Felker lives in Penn Township with his wife of 18 years and his three children, who are very supportive of his fire department life. He is a Physician's Assistant in the emergency department at Christiana Hospital.
Also elected to serve as line officers in 2013 were:
Justin Gattorno -- Deputy Fire Chief
Bob Hannan -- Assistant Fire Chief
Andrew Vattilana -- 1st Captain
Ted Paras -- 2nd Captain
Ian Torello -- 1st Lieutenant
Norman Forde -- 2nd Lieutenant
Ron Weir -- EMS Chief
Matt G -- EMS Captain
Lary Hicks -- Chief Engineer
Scott McLimans -- 1st Assistant Engineer
Tom Glass -- 2nd Assistant Engineer
Craig Miller -- Fire Police Captain
Phil Howard -- Fire Police Lieutenant
Appointed to support the line officers were 2013 Hosemen: Gabe Grey 22, Cody Meade 12, and Mike Lindsay 32.
"I'm very lucky to be supported by an experienced team of officers this year, who have taken on important responsibilities for the WGFC," said Chief Felker. "In particular, I am very proud of Ian Torello and Norman Forde who have been elected for the first time to be officers."
The West Grove Fire Company is a combination (volunteer + career) department providing fire, rescue and EMS services to the greater Avon Grove community, serving West Grove Borough, New London Township and Penn Township, and portions of London Grove, Franklin, London Britain and Londonderry (EMS) Townships. This territory is approximately 65 square miles for the fire district and a total of 88 square miles for EMS coverage, answering 500+ fire calls and 2000+ ambulance calls. |
