You may recognize Roxie on your dock delivering industrial packaging across Central PA and Northern MD. Still, long before she was a delivery driver for Colony Packaging & Machine she began a career as a volunteer firefighter for Shiloh’s Fire Department in York, PA (now West Manchester Township Fire Department).
Roxie grew up playing baseball and tackle football with her brother Bink and his friends so when she was just 14 and he mentioned joining the township’s fire department as a junior firefighter it was an easy, “yes.”
It’s been forty-five years since her first day at the station, and recently she was awarded Firefighter of the Year for West Manchester Township’s Fire Department. Roxie’s path was heavily influenced not just by her brother but also her father who ran with the department for many years and convinced Roxie to do medic training early on. Since then she has logged hundreds of hours of training and has fought some of the largest fires our community has seen.
Previous to working at our industrial packaging supplier, Roxie spent 20 years with the 911 Department and prior to that 8 years with Caterpillar before they closed their doors as part of their internal fire and medical department. While working for CAT she was given the opportunity to train with the Delaware State Fire School which provided her with many new skills and fire safety knowledge.
Roxie shared the technology involved has changed over the years which has increased firefighting effectiveness and overall safety tremendously. She shared a story of one of the earliest fatal fires she was a part of and how she nearly fell through the floor after finding an individual. Situations like that can now be better handled thanks to modern technology like thermal indicator cameras and radios which help keep firefighters more aware of potential hazards while opening critical lines of communication between those inside and outside the structure.
In reflecting on this great achievement and her career with the department, Roxie said, “I like the challenges, every call is different, I like the physical aspect, and I like the whole family atmosphere within the Fire Department. It’s also always nice to give back to your community.”
To this day she still claims, “none of this was my choice,” as a nod to the influence of her dad and brother, but she has no regrets and is proud of her past accomplishments and what we know are certainly many accomplishments to come.
When you see Roxie on your docks please help us in wishing her congratulations on this great achievement and gratitude towards her immense dedication to our community.
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