Jan. 13—DANVILLE — A handful of Danville Area High School students responded to a structural collapse Friday afternoon and were challenged to remove a patient safely from under the debris in an emergency setting.

Just another day for Danville High School’s Fire Club.

Lawmakers interested in expanding the program beyond Montour County and leaders from other local fire departments were on hand Friday to get a front-row seat to the club.

Danville volunteer firefighter Eric Frantz jumpstarted the program last fall with six students. He said Friday he hopes to be up to 40 by the end of the school year as the club perhaps creates a new generation of volunteers to close voids in firefighting rosters across Pennsylvania.

“What an impressive program,” State Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver said. “There is a crisis across the commonwealth as far as getting volunteers. It takes a special kind of person to do that, responding to accidents and running into burning buildings when the rest of us are going in the other direction. A program like this gets these kids off the couch, doing something greater than themselves.”

Volunteers from Sunbury Hose Co. visited the club along with Northumberland County Commissioner Meghan Beck, Montour County Commissioner Trevor Finn and state Rep. Michael Stender, a firefighter himself.

Frantz said the hands-on approach the club has taken from the beginning has continued to draw interest among students. The first day the club met last fall, Frantz said the students were in full fire gear, breathing through air tanks.

On Friday, they simulated a structure collapse in Danville’s gymnasium, forcing an emergency response from club members.

“The first thing we tell them is this is not a fire prevention activity,” Frantz said. “We’re trying to get to them right away with real, hands-on experiences. It’s an introduction, but we’re making an attempt to engage young folks in our area.

“Maybe one day they grow up, move away and volunteer somewhere else. They can take these skills with them and start another program.”

That is what drew the interest of lawmakers and Sunbury Hose Co. Capt. John Ferrari on Friday.

Ferrari said a similar club in Shikellamy could thrive. The district already has a successful law enforcement club, and getting similar numbers within Shikellamy could have a broad impact considering how many volunteer fire departments lie within the district’s boundaries.

“They’ve got a great program and if we can do something like this in the Shikellamy school district, that would be huge,” he said. “If we can get kids to stick around and volunteer, it’s a win-win. Even a handful of kids could make a huge difference.”

From the state lawmakers’ perspective, they were eyeing best practices, Culver said.

“It’s impressive and hopeful,” she said. “Pennsylvania is so big, no one size fits all. We’re trying to start a pilot program here and going to take the best of what is going in similar programs to a state level.

“It’s great seeing the kids excited to learn, excited to help and excited to do the right thing. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”