Tribune-Review
BROWNSVILLE, Pa. — Edward “Woody” Nicholson has spent more than 50 years putting out fires in his hometown of Brownsville.
After serving 45 years as chief of the South Brownsville Volunteer Fire Company, he has decided not to seek re-election.
It’s been a long tenure for a man who initially resisted joining the department.
After serving in the Army, he worked as a mold loft man at Hillman Barge. Coworkers “pestered” him to join, Nicholson said.
He learned on the job, he said, training and going to fire school.
The fire hall’s paneled walls are lined with trophies from parades and county firefighter competitions.
Numerous photos, many black and white, depict fires that devastated the small borough.
In 1968, an arson at an apartment complex resulted in three deaths, including that of a woman who jumped in a futile escape effort.
In February 1971, Grace Shaneyfelt was killed in an electrical fire at her Arch Street apartment.
“It was minus 12 degrees. She was a friend of the family. We didn’t know she was inside,” Nicholson said.
Nicholson has seen firefighters injured in the line of duty as well.
In 1970, then-chief Edward Rohrer was injured when a chimney toppled over on him; infection later led to the loss of a leg.
Firefighters head out after dark, in the cold and on holidays when the alarm sounds.
“I think five years in a row we had a fire on Thanksgiving Day,” said Chuck Clayton, company president.
“Our main concern was getting people back home safe and sound — don’t take chances. Naturally, when you have a fatality, it hurts us, too,” Nicholson said.
Fundraising, from fish fries to bingo, never ends. Fire equipment that cost tens of thousands 40 years ago now costs in the hundreds of thousands, Nicholson and Clayton noted.
“It’s a nonprofit business,” Clayton said of firefighting.
Nicholson was honored for his service to the fire department in 2008 when the borough declared July 19 Woody Nicholson Day.
But he credited a department that worked “all together” and cited the team that surrounds him.
“You are only as good as your help. Like (Clayton), I couldn’t run the fire department without him,” he said.
In a borough whose population now numbers under 2,400, Nicholson recalls a time when it thrived. Residents enjoyed movie theaters, street cars, bowling alleys and skating rinks.
“It was a great place to grow up. I wouldn’t trade my youth, my growing up, for anything,” Nicholson said.
A member of the last graduating class of Brownsville High School, in 1958, Nicholson was coy about his age.
“Mid-70s,” he said, smiling.
Brownsville Borough Council President James Lawver called Nicholson “an amazing guy.”
“He’d run rings around any 20-year-old. He’s the lifeblood of that fire company,” Lawver said.
Nicholson also serves in the part-time position of borough code enforcement officer and is the borough’s director of emergency management.
“He just goes above and beyond. Nobody says a bad thing about him — unless he cites them,” Lawver joked. “Everybody just respects him.”
Lawver noted that Nicholson helped get the borough’s Little League field in shape and coached teams for years.
“I’ve never seen the guy sick. He doesn’t miss a fire call. He’s someone that you can count on. The work ethic that man has is amazing. If I need him, all I have to do is call down to the fire hall.” “There is no one more dedicated to public service than Woody Nicholson. I can’t say enough good about the guy,” Lawver said.
Nicholson recalled helping covert an old football field into a Little League field, where he was an umpire and coach.
“They (players) thought they were ‘big league.’ I thought I was a big-league umpire. I was just a kid with them,” he said, chuckling.
Inside a station office, where a wooden sign declares it “Woody’s Man Cave,” plaques and certificates hang on the walls.
The married father of four said several family members have served with the department, including as junior firefighters.
Many former department junior firefighters have moved into first responder careers, Nicholson said.
Over the years, he has served as department lieutenant, assistant chief, chaplain and trustee.
For the first time in decades, Nicholson’s name will not be among those seeking the office of chief in December.
“I thought about it for a couple of years. I think it’s just time. I’ll still be involved,” he said.
“I served my family. I served my country. I served my community. I’m very happy. It all worked out for me. ... It was a great life, helping people,” Nicholson said.
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