Editorial Notes and Thanks

The history that follows is necessarily incomplete in spite of its (probably excessive) length, and much of it is anecdotal. Most of the written records of the department and of the township from earlier than September of 1956 were lost in the hurricane-related Chartiers Creek flood of August 6th of that year. (If history's any guide, we get a really big hurricane-spawned flood here about every 16 years, though we managed to skip one in 1988 somehow. So the next one is due around 2020 or so. We're ready now, anyway.) We welcome any additions or corrections to the facts presented here, and any additional insights into this history. One of the chief hazards of the World Wide Web is its ability to disseminate incorrect information so quickly and widely. On the other hand, its volatility means that mistakes can be corrected just as easily. We’d like to have this history be as accurate as possible. We’ll save comprehensivity for another site or another medium, some other time. Meanwhile, stop back to this page occasionally to see what else we’ve uncovered. We also welcome any submissions of historical items; news clippings, other documents, and especially photographs about the department and its relationship to the community. As we receive them, and as the site designer has the time, we'll try to incorporate them.

Special thanks are due to the people of the Bower Hill Volunteer Fire Department and from the community who contributed, often completely unwittingly, to this history. Among these are many who are no longer with us, and it is to them that this history is dedicated. Chief among these are Karl Oelschlager, Art Fishburn, Pete and Charlie Kuna, Sherman “Doe” and Roscoe “Rocky” Padgelek, Eugene Levi, Sr. and Richard Braun of the department, and Agnes Robinson, teacher at the former Henry Roberts Elementary School and a lifelong resident of southern Scott Township, who told many great stories about the history of the community during the many long mornings while we were waiting for the bus to Pittsburgh in 1976 - 1980. Among the living are just about every current life member of the department, but particularly  Bob Berdnik and Ceil Kitchen who gave access to the old records.

And extra special thanks to each and every man and woman, boy and girl who has ever served in the Bower Hill Volunteer Fire Department, however long or short that service was. You made this department what it is today, and we’re proud to continue your work. This is your story, and we can never afford to forget it.

So, on to the story. Use the navagation bar at the bottom of the page to see the history in chronological order, or the bar at the top of the page to jump to a specific era.