Minquas
Fire Company, No. 2
Minquas Fire
Company Starts Fund Raising Campaign
For Immediate Release Contact:
Barry Cassidy 484 880 1530
Tuesday July 31, 2012
Downingtown, PA: Minquas
Fire Company #2 has announced that they will start their fund drive to raise
$850,000 to build a new firehouse.
Minquas has been in their current location, at 202 East
Lancaster, for over 100 years.
During those 100 years, the service area of Downingtown and East Caln has
experienced much growth. The
historic firehouse on East Lancaster Avenue has become a victim of that growth,
as new facilities are now being constructed to house the fire company and the
emergency medical services (EMS).
The new location at 141 Wallace Avenue is the former home of
Chemical Leaman and was purchased by the Borough of Downingtown for the Minquas
relocation. The property has
environmental contamination, the clean up is part of the construction schedule,
as the contamination will be encapsulated with the construction of the foundation
and the parking lots. The property
was to have been remediated as part of the Kardon Park development. The remediation component will now be
merged into the overall costs for the relocation.
The project creates new advantages for the fire fighting and
EMS duties assigned to the Minquas for the past 100 years. The response time for fire and
emergency medical calls will be reduced due to the location of the new
building. The Lancaster Avenue
location was fraught with traffic issues when responding to an emergency call. Minquas has been forced to manually
stop traffic on busy business Route 30 to enable the equipment to be deployed
to the emergency. Frustrated
commuters often are subject to delays during rush hour as the equipment is
deployed.
In addition, the firehouse had become to small to house all
of the equipment so it is readily available for emergency calls. There has been a constant jockeying of
equipment from lots to the firehouse to properly position the equipment and
apparatus for deployment.
Minquas has set a goal of $850,000 to enable Minquas to
build the firehouse without becoming indebted. Chief Michael Miller announced that Downingtown Borough
resident Barry Cassidy would be leading the fund drive and will be contacting
local businesses with a mailing and personal visits over the next few
months. “We did not physically
have the time to do the fund raising and maintain the volunteer efforts to
fight fires. Barry is from
Downingtown and knows most of the people and we have retained him to act as a
professional solicitor for our cause.”
Cassidy will be paid on an hourly basis.
Plans are already underway for an October 20th
fundraiser at the E. Lancaster Avenue firehouse featuring “Hidden Treasure’ a
local Jazz band from Phoenixville.
The food and beverage for the fundraiser will be supplied by Molly
Maguire’s, which will occupy the location after the Minquas moves to the new
and improved location. Local businesses will be asked to submit silent auction
items to be bid on that evening.
Information on the fund raising activities or
the Jazz Fund Raiser can be secured by calling the Minquas Fund Raising Hotline
between 8 AM and 8 PM at 484 880 1530.
Tickets can be purchased and donations made on the internet at http://www.minquasfire.org/
