REMEMBRANCE OF THE SACRIFICE
The Perkasie Fire Company is planning an event for the evening of April 1, 2026, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Line of Duty Deaths of Firefighters Jacob Crouthamel and Will Sames.
Firefighters Crouthamel and Sames were riding on the sideboards of a Perkasie fire truck responding to what was believed to be a fire at the Bush Hotel in Quakertown on April 1, 1926. As the truck approached the scene, the driver made an evasive maneuver to avoid another vehicle, causing it to briefly leave the roadway. Firefighters Crouthamel and Sames encountered a telephone pole on the side of the road, which threw them from the truck. Firefighter Crouthamel died at the scene, and Firefighter Sames died a short while later at the Gehman Hotel in Quakertown.
While the equipment and apparatus used in firefighting today has advanced greatly over the years since this tragic incident, and we have been very fortunate that these have been the only Line of Duty Deaths in the Perkasie Fire Company’s 136-year history, the dangers our volunteers face every time they respond to a call are still very real and potentially deadly. Which is why the Perkasie Fire Company is having an event in remembrance of the sacrifice made by Firefighters Crouthamel and Sames.
Our plans call for our Company, along with other Fire Companies and Police Departments in the area, many of whom have a shared history of responding to the same call on April 1, 1926, to have a procession of apparatus and volunteers starting at our main fire house at 100 North Fifth Street in Perkasie to the area of the 1926 incident near the Quakertown Farmer’s Market on Station Road in Quakertown. The procession will leave at 7:35 PM, the same time the call came into our Company on that night in 1926, and proceed through the Borough, taking the same route as the truck carrying Firefighters Crouthamel and Sames. Upon arrival at the incident site, there will be a ceremony in remembrance of those brave men, including the unveiling of a roadside marker to be placed near the scene in their honor.
Additional details, including the procession route, will be made available on the Perkasie Fire Company website at www.perkasiefire.org. Residents are welcome to observe the procession along the route to honor our fallen heroes.
