Anyone who has ever attended a fire company dedication program, a funeral of a firefighter, or other fire department related events likely heard about the "brotherhood" that exists among firefighters.

With members of the Palmerton Fire Department and the Wolfgang, Germany, Fire Department, that strong bonding extends all the way across the Atlantic Ocean.Recently, about a dozen members of the Wolfgang Fire Department, as well as two members of the nearby Waldfish, Germany, Fire Company, visited their brethren in Palmerton. For most of the Wolfgang members, this was their third trip to Palmerton within the past decade.The relationship for the two departments began thanks to Palmerton member and long-time firefighter Brian Rehrig.In 2002-2003, Rehrig, who was in the Pa. National Guard, was deployed to Germany as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.The 24-year veteran of the guard, who has since retired, spent much of his off-time visiting the local fire department, which happened to be the Wolfgang Fire Company. He socialized with the members, trained with them, and even responded to calls.Upon returning to the United States, he and the German firefighters not only remained in touch with each other, but have traded visits several times.Rehrig and his wife Debbie last visited Wolfgang two years ago. He said they're planning another trip in 2015."We want to keep this tradition going," Rehrig said.Although the visitors from Germany socialized with the Palmerton fire fighters, they also did a lot of sight-seeing with the local members.The German visitors arrived for their 10-day trip at the JFK Airport and stayed a couple of nights in North Bergen, N.J. They spent three days visiting New York City, including the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, and, of course, the Ground Zero 9/11 Memorial. They also visited various fire companies in the city.They then got rental cars and drove to Country Inn & Suites in Lehighton where they spent the remainder of their stay.Day trips included the Harley Davidson Plant in York, Amish Country in Lancaster, a fire expo in Harrisburg, and shopping at the Tannersville Outlets.Rehrig said one of the humorous moments was when the German visitors stopped at Dunbar Bottling Company in Lehighton and purchased $700 worth of beer.The journey to the expo was a bus trip with members of the Lehighton Fire Department.At the expo, they had their photo taken with Ed Mann, Pa. State Fire Commissioner. The photo is scheduled to appear in the Pa. Firemen's Magazine.Later during their U.S. visit, they were guests at a dinner program held in the Palmerton Fire Department's West End Station. The program marked the 10th anniversary of the friendship between the German firefighters and Rehrig.One of the highlights at the event was the unveiling of a large "Brother of the Flame" banner, which was hung on the outside of the fire station.The honors of hanging the banner went to Rehrig and Timo Ross, fire chief of the Wolfgang department.In addition, the firefighters from the two companies exchanged helmets.Holly Sell, representing Palmerton Borough Council, gave a plaque to the "sister city."Ross brought gifts for Palmerton Mayor Chris Olivia as well as the Bowmanstown Borough Council.Attending the event were also members of the Bowmanstown, Lehighton, and Slatington fire companies and the Palmerton Ambulance Association.Also at the program, Carbon County Commissioner Tom Gerhard presented a resolution to Denis Behler of the Palmerton Fire Department for his 43 years of dedicated service.The German guests had another outing at The Ridge Bar & Grill in New Tripoli with Rehrig's employer, EWMI/RRI (Environmental Waste Minimization Inc.).There were still more highlights to come.One was a visit to Historic Gettysburg, where the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's deciding battle is being observed.They also stopped in to Penn's Peak Radio at Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe, where they were on-air guests of Layne "Doc" Roberts on the "Bump and Grind" show.