After decades of giving back to the community in the volunteer fire service, Jerry Wagner has had a lot of memorable fire calls. A more recent call that sticks out to him though was a house fire in 2020, where he had to prevent the homeowner from reentering the home.

“I stayed with him to support him until his family arrived,” Jerry recalls.

He started volunteering with Centre Square Fire Company in 2018, after 35 years with Wissahickon Fire Company.

“I wanted to help out the community as my grandfather and father had before me,” said Jerry.

When he was 16, Jerry followed in his family’s footsteps and started as a firefighter. In his mid-30s, he switched to fire police and also served as fire police lieutenant. As a fire police volunteer, Jerry controls traffic at the scene of fire incidents to keep firefighters and first responders safe.

“What I enjoy the most is helping other people and being part of the CSFC family,” he said.

For anyone interested in joining Centre Square, Jerry says it will give them the opportunity to give back to the community, help others, learn new skills, meet new people and so much more.

Find out how volunteering can change your life at CentreSquareFire.org.