Mel Lomax, treasurer of the Carbon County Fire Police Association, presented three new officers to Penn Forest supervisors during their normal monthly meeting on Monday. The new fire police officers have passed the basic fire police training course and will soon be ready to work various assignments as needed. Township solicitor Thomas Nanovic swore the three officers in during the meeting.

Abe Jardines was sworn in as a new fire police officer for Penn Forest Township Volunteer Fire Company #1. Charles Brown and Mike Corrigan were sworn in as fire police officers for Penn Forest Township Volunteer Fire Company #2.Fire Police are volunteer fire department company members with sworn police powers. They receive special police training and are responsible for traffic control, crowd control, fire and incident scene security, apparatus security, and station security during calls for service.Special Fire Police Officers assist regular police when needed, performing road closures, traffic control, crowd control at public events, missing persons searches, parade details, salvage, and security. The primary role of the Fire Police is to provide support for operational requirements at moderate to major incidents.According to the organization's website, the idea behind the Fire Police service is a simple one. During times of large-scale or particularly serious small emergencies, the response system can become overwhelmed. To that end, having a trained, equipped group of responders who can supplement or replace entirely police and fire department personnel at scenes is an invaluable tool to incident commanders.