Lower Burrell's Ron Hereda elected president of Pa. Firemen’s Association for second time

Ron Hereda, who is synonymous with Lower Burrell’s Kinloch Volunteer Fire Department, has been elected president of the Pennsylvania Firemen’s Association for a second time.

Lower Burrell Council honored Hereda, 68, with a certificate of recognition for his longtime service to the city during a council meeting Monday.

In addition to being a longtime Kinloch member, Hereda is the first man elected two times as president of the state Firemen’s Association in decades, City Councilman Joe Grillo said. Hereda said he was first elected president in 2004.

“Ron was instrumental in helping students get grants,” Grillo said.

Hereda, a former fire chief who retired as an active firefighter, has spent more than 50 years in firefighting. In the last decade, Hereda raised about $30,000 in scholarships for students in the fire sciences or related academic programs.

Hereda is known for raising Dalmatians. One of his more recent and prominent firehouse dogs is Ashes, one of two fire rescue dogs at Eureka Fire Rescue in Tarentum.