[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 69 (Monday, April 29, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H3297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1930
                RECOGNIZING THE SOUTH MEDIA FIRE COMPANY

  (Ms. SCANLON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, in Pennsylvania, volunteer fire departments 
have long played a central role in the life of our towns and boroughs. 
In recent years, changing demographics and funding issues have 
seriously impacted the volunteer fire company tradition. However, it 
has also had one benefit of spurring recruitment of first responders 
from nontraditional quarters.
  I want to take a minute to acknowledge the history made by two 
volunteers at the South Media Fire Company just last week. When an 
emergency call from a local middle school came in at 7:30 a.m. 
Wednesday morning, Ellen Yarborough, a schoolteacher, and Dora 
Giannakarios Preston, a local business woman, put their day jobs on 
hold to answer the call, unaware that they were making history. This 
was the first time in the 100-year history of the firehouse that an 
all-female crew had handled an emergency call.
  To Ellen, Dora, the South Media Fire Company, and all of our 
volunteer firefighters, thank you for your service and for answering 
the call of duty to keep us safe.

                          ____________________