Hometown Volunteer Fire Company Chief Barry Messerschmidt said that if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of a Rush Township police officer, a man probably would not be alive today.

Messerschmidt attended Thursday evening’s board of supervisors meeting to commend Officer Robert Bechtel.

“Officer Bechtel to me is a hero,” Messerschmidt said.

The township fire chief said he and Bechtel were among the first to arrive at the scene of a recent motorcycle crash.

The driver, he said, was bleeding profusely.

“Without hesitation, he jumped in and applied a tourniquet,” Messerschmidt said of Bechtel.

Without the assistance, Messerschmidt said the man likely would have “bled out and died.”

Supervisors said they would have a letter of commendation placed in Bechtel’s files.

In an unrelated matter, the fire company asked whether supervisors would consider making a pond near Quakake usable again for a water supply for its fire trucks.

The township owns land near Wertman Road that could provide access to the pond, which is on private property.

Supervisor Robert Leibensperger said that in 1980, a resolution gave rights of the pond to the township.

The pond, however, hasn’t been used to fill tanks in years. The board said it would look into the matter.