Jeff Gahman was the Vice President of the Perkasie Fire Company in the year 2000. At that time he had been working with the Perkasie Fire Company for over 17 years.

Jeff thinks that the Perkasie Fire Company has changed over the years with all the new fire fighting equipment, communications advances, and a new fire house. He thinks the best part of volunteering is having the satisfaction of helping the public. Yet he still finds it very difficult to get up at 2:00 a.m. some mornings to answer a file call !

He began going to the fire house with his uncles in Plumsteadville; he has loved being involved ever since. Although being a firefighter was harder in his early days of volunteering, he still loved it. Until a few years ago the Perkasie Ambulance services and the Perkasie Fire Company were one organization. He worked with both the ambulance and fire company during many years of his volunteering. On the ambulance he had the pleasure of delivering several babies.

All the firefighters are volunteers; Jeff's regular job is being a funeral director at Suess's Funeral Home in Perkasie. He told us that as of 2000 he never saved a person's life, but he never lost anyone either. The only living things he ever saved while working in emergency services were cats and dogs. His most challenging moment with the Perkasie Fire Company was "The Great Perkasie Fire" (1988); he indicated that it was scary because "you didn't know what was going to happen next or what the fire was going to do!"

Off the job, at the fire house there is a lot of joking around and fun; everyone is friends with everyone else. The advice he gives to anyone considering becoming a firefighter is "Don't start volunteering if all you want is fame, do it for the community - it is very rewarding."