PHOTO PROVIDED The Clinton County Board of Commissioners are pictured with members of the Nippenose Valley Volunteer Fire Company, Chief Dean Miller, left, and John Yingling, right. The board proclaimed June 20, 2026 as Nippenose Valley Volunteer Fire Company Day in recognition of its 75th anniversary.

LOCK HAVEN — For 75 years, the Nippenose Valley Volunteer Fire Company, located in Crawford Township, Clinton County, has carefully watched over its community.

This care, and the dedication of its volunteers, was honored this week by the Clinton County Board of Commissioners, who declared June 20, 2026 as Nippenose Valley Volunteer Fire Company Day in recognition of this milestone. The fire company was established in June 1951.

A proclamation was read by Commissioner Jeff Snyder about the fire company and the role it’s played in its own community of Rauchtown and other surrounding areas.

“Over the past 75 years, the Nippenose Valley Fire Company has grown from a single fire truck into a two-station department,” the proclamation read, noting it served its area of Clinton County and southwestern Lycoming County.

The proclamation further emphasized the selflessness of its volunteers who provide services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, “providing fire suppression, rescue and quick response emergency medical services to the municipalities they serve.”

In 2025, the volunteer fire company responded to 216 calls for service and continues to meet evolving challenges and demands of public safety in 2026 and beyond.

“The company’s unwavering commitment to public service, coupled with countless hours of training, preparation and community engagement, reflects great credit upon the volunteer firefighters, first responders who have served in the past, those who serve today and those who will carry on the mission in the future,” Snyder read from the proclamation.

The proclamation stated the anniversary year “represents a significant milestone and provides an opportunity to recognize the dedication, sacrifice and contributions of its members throughout generations of service.”

Following the approval of the proclamation, John Yingling, representing the fire company, spoke briefly to the board.

Yingling thanked the commissioners for the honor, not the fire company’s history began “when, in Rauchtown, Crawford Township, Clinton County, 13 community members seeking a solution to improve public safety met and said ‘we’re going to buy a fire truck and establish a fire company,'” he said.

“The rest is history,” he continued.

The proclamation, he said, was greatly appreciated in honoring members past, present, and hopefully, future.

“Hopefully, as with many volunteer (companies) this isn’t a eulogy, but a path to our next 75 years,” Yingling said. “We thank you and hopefully we are able to use this proclamation today as a motivation of a goal of many years of continued service.”

Yingling, along with Chief Dean Miller, accepted the proclamation on behalf of the fire company.

Yingling noted to the board that Miller has served nearly four decades as fire chief, currently in his 39th year.

All three commissioners congratulated Miller for his service along with Yingling and all the volunteers who keep the fire company going.