Local news

Keeping the community informed: College senior works with emergency responders to relay alerts to region

LOCK HAVEN -- Like many children, Ashton Peters enjoyed seeing emergency vehicles, especially fire trucks. He liked them so much that for his seventh birthday, his dad arranged for a fire truck to come to his house as a surprise.

Fast forward to 2026, and Peters, a senior at Commonwealth University-Lock Haven (CU-LH), still has an affinity for emergency vehicles, and has combined that interest with his passion for photography to operate Flash and Sirens of Clinton County, PA LLC, a Facebook group page he created in 2024 in an effort to provide alerts to emergency events taking place in the area.

Peters monitors non-encrypted emergency scanner transmissions then notes the call descriptions with individual posts on his page.

Peters, a Criminal Justice major with ambitions to be a Pennsylvania DCNR Park Ranger, will sometimes proceed to emergency scenes in his role as a journalist, and will take photos from a safe distance.

Peters says he is vigilant in avoiding capturing images of victims at scenes and concentrates on the responders and emergency apparatus.

Peters, a Lock Haven native and life-long Clinton County resident, says he created the page to "bridge the gap between first responders and the community through the lens of photography."

In addition to photos posted on his page, Peters contributes photographs and articles to several media outlets, notably The Express.

Peters says he has a good working relationship with multiple area fire chiefs, some of whom provide him with press releases that he can utilize for his coverage.

One of those fire chiefs is Tyler Wooding.

Wooding, who has served as Fire Chief for the City of Lock Haven since 2020, says that he'll send Flash and Sirens press releases after major incidents, adding that the page will post about unfolding incidents, helping to create greater public awareness of the incident at hand.

According to Wooding, "Flash and Sirens provides a public service that most other agencies or organizations don't have time or resources to invest in," noting that in his experience, Peters stays "within the scope of accepted media practices without interfering with emergency operations."

Wooding noted the extensive photos and videos that Flashes and Sirens will take at various scenes.

"It tells a story. On the worst day of someone's life, emergency responders showed up to help," Wooding added, referring to the recognition that first responders, including his own personnel, receive from the coverage on Flash and Sirens.

POSITIVE NOTES

While emergency alerts and other serious topics might be at the heart of Flash and Sirens, Peters and his small staff of volunteer assistants also strive to recognize local responders for their accomplishments, such as a career milestone or an extraordinary action.

Recently, Flash and Sirens recognized a local volunteer firefighter for his part in rescuing multiple swimmers who had been caught in a rip current. The firefighter, a member of Citizens Hose Company No. 5, had been on vacation in Maryland at the Time.

BUSY SCHEDULE

In addition to his regular college studies and work on the Flash and Sirens page, Peters serves as a Community Service Officer with University Police-Lock Haven, a role that allows him to work with dispatch, participate in ride-alongs with Campus Police and conduct parking enforcement, among other duties.

Chris Prescott is the Chief of Police at CU-LH and describes Peters as dedicated and hardworking.

"The guy never runs out of gas," quipped Prescott, referring to Peters' work ethic at the school.

Prescott noted that Peters is tech-savvy and was instrumental in developing a pamphlet for students which provides information about the police department, various on-campus resources and information regarding the nearby hospital.

In 2025, Peters coordinated with the Pennsylvania State Police Aviation Unit to arrange for a helicopter fly-in at the university which was open to the public.

Peters described the fly-in as a community outreach event to help connect the community with the university and law enforcement.

In addition to his role with the campus police, Peters also works as an assistant with CU-LH's Strategic Communications and Marketing Office where he contributes to news articles, press releases and various photography assignments.

Aside from his roles at CU-LH and the Flash and Sirens page, Peters uses his photography skills to operate a small business, AP Photo Visuals, which offers traditional photography for weddings, couples' photos, sports photos, etc.

Recently, Peters served as the Social Media Officer and photographer for the 2026 Clinton County Police Camp Cadet program.

Peters himself attended the program as a cadet in 2016, something he says influenced his college major and current career ambitions to become a park ranger.

TO LEARN MORE

For more information on Ashton Peters and the Flash and Sirens of Clinton County, PA LLC page, simply join that group page on Facebook.

The group page currently has approximately 12,000 members.