Longtime supporters take the plunge
New Hope Gazette
By Sean Patrick Murphy, Assistant Editor
03/17/2005

The next time someone in New Hope asks "Where's the fire?" tell him or her to just ask the Bollenbachers. Chris and Ellen Bollenbacher, owners of The Landing restaurant in New Hope, last week were sworn in as fire police for the Eagle Fire Company.

What are the fire police? "Essentially it's a very important function because what we do is relieve firemen from having to do something that we can easily do," Chris Bollenbacher said. "And they can take their skills and heroism and go fight a fire."
"Fire police are authorized to divert traffic, to close off roads if necessary, to tell people that are driving by where they need to go, and we make sure the fire trucks can get in," Ellen Bollenbacher said.

Chris said the title of fire police is given to imbue a sense of authority so that people will listen to when he or she is directing traffic and the like. Having become accustomed to the rhythm of the restaurant and by hiring an effective manager for it freed up some time for the Bollenbachers, who decided it was time to join the Eagle Fire Company.

Chris said they were put on the company's publicity committee. The husband and wife were then sent to school to learn how to become fire police. "It's one of those things that we're going to take on with this publicity thing," Chris said about the role of fire police. "To try to help people understand what it is." The school they attended is run by an arm of the Bucks County Community College. Its classes are spread out around the state.

Chris and Ellen drove to Factoryville, Pa. -- about a three-hour drive from New Hope -- to take one of their classes. They said there were about 15 people in the class.
Chris said most people wait for the classes to come near where they live, but the next one in the New Hope area isn't until June 1. Because their busiest time is in the summer, they decided to take the trip to their classes during the winter months.

Chris, who has owned The Landing since 1975, said he has known Eagle Fire Company President Fred Williamson for more than 25 years. "Years and years and years ago in my second life I got a divorce from a woman who I think it's safe to say almost everyone in town hated," Chris said. "And I befriended a guy by the name of Fred Williamson and the reason I did it was because she hated him so much that I thought it would be fun to make him my friend."

And he was going through a divorce at the same time," Chris continued. "And so we rented an apartment together (because neither one of us had a dime) and we became friends and have been ever since. "Fred has been very active in the fire company so I have always had this friend not far away from me always hearing about the Eagle and always watching what he did," Chris said. "There was always this constant knowledge of the fire company coming in one ear because he was my best friend and we were always hanging out together. And I always thought that it would be really nice to do something for the fire company."

Ellen noted the couple has done various things for the fire company for some time.
"What we did is we promoted different events that would help the fire company," Ellen said. "That's what we could do with the restaurant. Having different events here, having fund-raisers. "Every year we do the [New Hope Outdoor] Arts and Crafts Festival, we do a table, we dish out soup and warm rolls and water for a donation for the fire company," she continued. "We decided that, even though we have a lot going on in our life, we see that there's some availability for us to do some other things and we officially joined the fire department" a couple of months ago, Ellen said.

Williamson, who calls Chris his "best friend," noted Chris and Ellen "have gone out of their way" to support the fire company for years. "They're certainly one of the most committed couples in New Hope," Williamson said. "They're amazing."
Williamson noted how rare it is for a married couple to both belong to a fire company. "Only in New Hope," he said.