The Police Department offers a training session to the public aimed at keeping them safe from firearms. Taking place on May 29th at 6 p.m., the active shooter training will teach people what to do in the event of being gun fire in a public place. The  session will take place in the Police Department training room in the Municipal Center.

With spring comes spring cleaning, and Middletown Township wants residents to be safe as they clean up around their homes. The Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management offers several tips to improve the safety of your home and family while straightening up around the house.

This eNews series highlights Township departments and the volunteer boards and commissions that serve the community. In this issue, we will provide a spotlight on the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management.

This Township department's mission is to keep the community safe from fires, hazards, natural disasters, and many potential threats to public safety. While their purpose seems straightforward, their important work takes on many forms. Every business in the Township is inspected by Fire Marshal staff and made aware of any code or safety violations that put their customers at risk. These become especially important for the larger properties in the community, such as the mall, Sesame Place, and apartment complexes. The Office of the Fire Marshal is also responsible for education programs that include disaster preparedness, school fire drills, and fire prevention/safety exhibits and demonstrations at events and throughout the community. Additionally, they provide support to the local fire companies. The same staff are responsible for Emergency Management, often coordinating relief during storms and helping ensure everyone's safety at large events.

The Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management is headed by Jim McGuire. Jim joined the Township as a part-time employee in 2001, and he has been the full-time Fire Marshal for over ten years. He first joined the fire service in 1988 and became a paramedic in 1992. From 1995 to 2003, he served the Philadelphia Fire Department. Throughout his career, Jim has also taken on more specialized tasks, serving on both the PA Incident Management Team and the Federal Urban Search and Rescue Team. He also has had several deployments to disaster areas throughout the United States and, most recently, Puerto Rico after last year's hurricanes.

The rest of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management team includes Scott Hoagland, James Bampfield, Alan Welsh, Colby Fisher, and Shane Quinnan. As a group, they complete the important work mentioned above to keep the community safe. Additionally, many of them bring experience as volunteer firefighters to help residents in times of need.