The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Revved up and ready to roll
New chief of Jefferson Fire Company rose through the ranks to reach the top
WEST NORRITON » Three a.m. on a Saturday finds 17-year-old John Mazzochetti driving along Narcissa Road in Plymouth Township. Ahead of him is a 1974 Corvette. Suddenly, the driver of the Corvette loses control, causing the car to flip on its side trapping the driver. Mazzochetti doesn’t hesitate: he quickly gets out of his car, runs to the overturned vehicle, gets the door open, pulls the 40-year-old male driver to safety and waits with him until emergency personnel arrives on scene.
Afterwards, recalled Mazzochetti, “I thought about it and decided it was pretty cool to rescue someone like that.”
Although the rescue incident never left his mind, it took another 21 years before Mazzochetti — at the age of 37 — signed up
as a volunteer firefighter at Jefferson Fire Co. in West Norriton Township. This year he became chief of the company.
Usually people start out in the fire service at a young age of 14, 16 and 18, but Mazzochetti had other responsibilities that kept him occupied. As owner of an auto body shop in Bridgeport, “I put in as many as 100 hours a week; it was impossible to put any time into a fire company,” he admitted.
In most cases, when a person joins a fire company, it’s because family members or friends are involved. Not in Mazzochetti’s case.
“A neighbor down the street was a company officer with Jefferson Fire Company. I began talking with him, asking questions. He gave me an application, and I never looked back,” said Mazzochetti.
Since joining Jefferson FC, he has held positions of captain, lieutenant, assistant chief, deputy chief and