One would think Paul Mriss would know everything there is to know about firefighting, having been doing this for more than half a century. But, he said, he’s still learning.

Just recently he took another educational course in the field, one of many he’s taken over the years. “Knowledge is important,” he said.

Mriss is a member of the Lehighton Fire Department. So are his sons, Patrick and Michael. Combined, the trio has a total of 113 years of experience in entering burning buildings, extricating crash victims, handling chemical spills and handling many other emergency situations.

Paul has 54 years in the fire service and has responded to literally thousands of calls. Patrick is Lehighton’s fire chief and has been a member of the Lehighton department for 29 years. Michael is the assistant fire chief in Lehighton and is in his 30th year as a volunteer.

All three stress that they have no regrets being firefighters.

“I encourage people to get involved as firefighters, fire police auxiliary members,” Michael said. “There’s a lot to be gained including education, friendships and helping your neighbor.”

Like their father, both Patrick and Michael continue their learning, keeping up to date on the latest technology, various aspects of operations and operating in the most professional and safest ways possible.

Both of the sons recently became certified Chief Fire Officers by the Center for Public Safety Excellence Institute, a nonprofit agency that provides accreditation, credentialing and innovation programs to improve fire, emergency services and public safety agencies. Reportedly, they are the only two volunteer firefighters in Carbon County to receive the certification.

Getting certified includes an interview process and meeting eight specific criteria.

Paul, who has held many positions in the fire department over the years, explained how drastically firefighting — volunteer and professional — has changed since he joined the fire department in 1972.

“When I joined, you didn’t have as much training (as you do today),” he said. “At that time when I was young, when the fire siren blew you just got on the truck. Now, you won’t get on the truck unless you’re trained.”

He said, “Equipment today is bigger and there’s more technology than ever before. Basically, everything revolves around science; how much water to use, the right pressure. Hazmat (hazardous materials firefighting) is all science. Today in the home, almost everything is plastic instead of wood. Everything burns faster. There are more toxic gases. There’s less time for people to get out of the home.”

Paul got involved in firefighting through a relative. His sons followed in his footsteps.

Despite their dedication to the fire service, both Patrick and Michael have families. Both coach baseball. Both serve as firefighting instructors at the Bucks County Community College.

Ed Conarty Jr., a former chief, got Paul involved.

There are other relatives of the Mriss family who are active in firefighting. Michael said, “Firefighters come from both sides of the family.”

Among the relatives is Wayne Nothstein, an active member of the department for close to 60 years and who is a former fire chief. He is a brother-in-law to Paul Mriss. So is the late Dwight Nothstein, who was active in the fire department for 35 years prior to his death in 2022, and at one time served as an assistant fire chief.

Paul’s uncle, the late Edward Conarty Jr., was a longtime member of the fire company and former chief. He died at the age of 92 in 2023. It was Conarty who encouraged Paul to join the department.

Despite the amount of time and devotion Paul has given over the years to the fire department, he said his wife, Ruth Ann, never complained. She has always been supportive.

“My wife said she knew what she was getting into when she married me,” he said with a laugh.

Besides the two sons, Paul and Ruth Ann also have a daughter, Allison Daywalt, who hasn’t gotten involved in firefighting.

Obviously Paul has a lot of memories and experiences from his years of responding to the wail of fire alarms. Three especially stand out.

One was where he literally looked death in the eye.

That incident occurred in October 1974 when a call came that a gas truck was leaking its fuel in an isolated area that runs parallel to Route 443. An explosion occurred when firefighters were at the scene, which not only destroyed a fire engine but resulted in third degree burns to two firefighters.

“I was going over the fence (toward the burning vehicle) when it blew up,” said Mriss. Miraculously, he wasn’t injured.

Another fire that stands out is when a row of homes on Bankway Street in Lehighton burned during the day on Good Friday in 1974. He said he and other firefighters remained on the scene of that fast-spreading blaze for over 24 hours.

Then there was a call some years ago where railroad ties were burning. The noxious fumes that were emitted from the creosote on the ties sickened Paul and sent him to the hospital.

Chief for 11 years

Since joining the fire department at age 16, both Patrick and Michael have steadily risen through the ranks.

Patrick has served as the Lehighton Fire Department’s lieutenant, captain, assistant chief and eventually chief, a position he has held for the past 11 years.

He said his father often brought him and his brothers to the fire department when they were young, which piqued their interest.

He and his wife, Dr. Dawn Mriss, a veterinarian, own and operate the Lehighton Animal Hospital as well as St. Francis Animal Hospital in South Tamaqua. They have two children, a son Brian, 15, and daughter Brynn, 17.

As the chief, Patrick heads a department that presently consists of about 45 members. This year already, the fire department has responded to over 140 calls.

In addition to firefighting, the Lehighton Fire Department has special units for water rescue and vehicle rescue. The water rescue unit is often summoned in other counties because of its training and expertise. “We’re big in water rescue,” Patrick said.

In the less than three decades that Patrick has served, he said the biggest change and challenge he has faced is costs.

Michael agreed, interjecting that 11 years ago a pumper was purchased for $380,000. The fire company has ordered a similar one which now costs $980,000.

“Prices go up on everything, but not like it does on fire equipment,” said Paul.

In addition, the equipment has become more complex to operate, which is just one of the factors that dictate training as a requirement.

Air packs have technology added to them to make them safer and more efficient.

Paul said that communication radios are no longer two-way sets, “they’re more like computers.”

The apparatus has more computerized equipment. So do the vehicles they encounter when responding to an accident scene. Fire department personnel had special training on handling fires involving electric cars.

Something as simple as lithium batteries can make fighting a fire more complex. Paul recently took a course on lithium battery fires. “There are a lot of dangers to it,” he said, noting that not only is there the danger of the heat lithium battery fires create but the gases which are emitted.

Michael’s profession is an educator. He and his wife, Kelly, have two children, a daughter Lindsey, age 12, and son Kyle, 10.

Regarding the time he spends with the fire department, Michael said, “I have no regrets. Sometimes you miss out on stuff but in my eyes, this is for a good cause.”