French Creek, Pennsylvania Dist No 17 - Geigertown, PA
Posted by: 
Janila
N 40° 12.098 W 075° 48.751
18T E 430848 N 4450454
This monument sits near the Hopewell Fire Tower which is on the west side of French Creek State Park in Geigertown, PA.
Waymark Code: WMZBEZ
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 10/14/2018
Views: 4
To reach this monument, you will have to be lucky, if you are not a hiker, or unlucky, if you are a hiker. The monument sits at the top of Fire Tower road which, ironically, is named after the nearby fire tower. There is a parking area at the bottom of the road and quite often the gate is locked so you may have to walk up the half mile hill to get to the monument. Sometimes, usually on weekdays because school kids occasionally have field trips here, the gates will be open and you can drive to the top of the hill. Either way you get there, meander back past the picnic pavilion until you see the stone house sitting in the woods. The monument is in front of that house.
The monument says:
In honor and memory of those who have served the commonwealth protecting the forest from wildfire.
Erected by the PA Forest Fire Wardens Assoc D17 2013
Local firefighters were put to the test in April of 2012 when a fire, caused by wind swept trees in the Hopewell Woods, fell down against power wires and began burning. An interesting story about the fire tower at this monument was told by a firefighter who assisted in French Creek's 2012 wildfire. That fire destroyed almost 720 acres of this park's woodland but it may have destroyed more if the fire tower, which is in the western corner of the woods hadn't been manned a couple of days previously. It is usually unattended but for some reason, it had fire staff in it and they saw the beginnings of the fire which was on the eastern side of the park and got help or more may have been lost.
Fire crews from many different agencies worked for about two weeks to put this fire out and it became known as the longest fire fight in Pennsylvania history. Thanks to the work of the agencies who worked together seamlessly, no homes were lost and even better, no lives were lost. Thank you to the firefighters of the world for the dangerous job you do!
Memorial Website: [Web Link]
Physical address:
Fire Tower Road
Geigertown, PA USA
19508
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