LAFAYETTE HILL, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A mother-daughter duo have answered the call to volunteer after recently graduating from the Montgomery County Fire Academy.
It started with 17-year-old Mokeira “Mo” Gekonge.
“I would always drive around my local area and kind of see all the fire companies with signs out asking for volunteers. And it just kind of lit the spark.”
Mo tells NBC10, when she picked up an application — ““we're at like a block party, and I grabbed an application” — she got a bit of a surprise from her mom, Betsy.
“I said that I would take an application also,” Betsy said. “I will be there to make sure that it's safe.”
Betsy says at first the idea was to keep an eye on her daughter, but after the two finished their 180 hours of training and joined Barren Hill Fire Company in Lafayette Hill, she quickly realized it’s a great way to spend time with her daughter, and to help their community.
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“You know what, I'm kind of loving it as much as she does,” she said.
“It's actually a really nice family.”
The number of volunteer firefighters across Pennsylvania has fallen dramatically over the past 50 years. The Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute says a number up near 300,000 in the late 1970s dropped to around 38,000 in 2018.
Mo tells NBC10 she hopes people see their story and realize they can help too.
“I think the goal for me is to make sure everyone knows that they can be a volunteer if they want to be a volunteer, there's roles for everyone.”
Volunteers are needed in Montgomery County and all across Pennsylvania.