A handful of West End Fire Company volunteers spent their Tuesday and Wednesday nights decorating the Brodheadsville fire station with bright red strips of light to honor firefighters who lost their lives serving their communities.

It’s an issue that’s especially significant to Brodheadsville and Effort fire volunteers.

“Any firefighter that dies in the line of duty, it hits us,” fire police member Vincent Cefasello said.

Vice President Bill Koehler started a GoFundMe to benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation for his birthday in August. Now, he and the fire company are sharing their passion for this cause with the wider community.

“This event and this whole Light the Night campaign is more to get the community, and family and friends and such involved, not just the fire company,” Koehler said. “And that’s kind of the significance behind the red lights: we did it for our two stations in the hope that the community will help out.”

The fire company is asking businesses and residents to light up their stores and homes with red lights next week, Sept. 29 through Oct. 6. Any photos can be sent to the fire company for the national foundation’s website.

It’s the company’s first year participating in the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s Light the Night campaign, which prompts fire companies to light up across the nation.

The West End Fire Co. will finish the week strong with its own memorial ceremony at 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Chestnuthill Township Park.

In 2018, 92 firefighters lost their lives on the line of duty, Koehler said.

One of these was Zachary Anthony, a Kunkletown native and former Polk Township firefighter who died in a building collapse while serving with the York Fire Department.

Not all firefighter deaths happen on the scene, Koehler said. Cancer induced by exposure to chemicals is one of the leading causes of firefighter deaths. Others are unable to handle the trauma of emergency situations they experience and take their own lives.

The West End Fire Co. hopes this will be the first year in many that it will continue hanging lights and hosting a memorial service for these men and women.

The company is always looking for more volunteers, Koehler said.

Anyone 16 years old or older can come to the weekly meetings at 7 p.m. on Tuesday nights to join. There is a new training protocol, so those who want to volunteer for a specific role don’t have to go through the entire firefighter training anymore. For more information, visit www.wefco43.org.