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DEC 13, 2008 - The King of Prussia VFC received official recognition from the Office of the State Fire Commissioner for having personnel who met or exceeded nationally recognized training standards. The fire company and the fire commissioner’s office have verified that 75% of the membership met these standards.

NOV 1, 2008 - The King of Prussia VFC honors several members at the annual awards banquet and dinner. Engineer Mike Kiczula and Assistant Chief Mark Ross - Attendance Awards, Firefighter Vince Mazzotta - Memorial Donald Beck Presidents Award, Dee Dee Reigh - Rankin Taylor Memorial Service Award, Firefighter Branden Moone - Jr. Firefighter of the Year Award, Firefighter Andy Culp - Rookie of the Year Award, Engineers Vince Di Santo, Mike Kiczula and Stash Bralski - John Costello Memorial Chief Engineer’s Award, Fire Patrolman Dale Wilson - Fire Police of the Year Award, Firefighter Sean Ralph - KPVFC Scholarship Award, Fire Chief William Daywalt - Fire Safety Education Award, Lieutenant Rick Martin - Chaplin’s Award, Assistant Chief Mark Ross - Clarence Silcox Memorial Fire Fighter of the Year Award and Lieutenant Larry Durland - Fire Chief’s Award.

OCT 1, 2008 - King of Prussia VFC has honored their deceased members by purchasing a brick in the Walk of Honor at the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial Park located within the National Fire Academy in Emittsburg, Maryland.

SEPT 11, 2008 - The King of Prussia VFC is recognized by the PA Dept of Health and Montgomery County Department of Public Safety for meeting training and equipment standards for the Advanced Level Rescue Operations. The Vol Rescue Service Recognition program in PA is to provide statewide standards of rescue service equipment, personnel training and staffing, communications, reporting, and operations.

APR 05, 2007 - OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE - Blood Drive in Memory of Local Firefighter & One-Year Old Girl

Jan 4, 2007 – King of Prussia Courier: Daywalt 'going to be missed'. The American flag is flying at half-staff in front of the King of Prussia Volunteer Fire Co. on Allendale Road to honor the death of William C. "Bill" Daywalt Sr. The former assistant fire chief, severely injured by flames during a 4 a.m. fire at his Upper Merion home on Friday, Dec. 22, will be buried today, Jan. 3.

Most of the 84 volunteer firefighters will attend the 10 a.m. funeral service at Upper Merion Baptist Church, 585 General Steuben Road, Upper Merion, said Assistant Fire Chief Jim Gallagher.
"More than 30 fire companies from Montgomery, Chester and Delaware counties will form a funeral procession," Gallagher said, "from the church, south on Route 202 to Philadelphia Memorial Park Cemetery in Frazer."

Two "ladder arches" will be formed by ladder companies at General Steuben and Keebler roads and in front of the fire station at Allendale Road in Upper Merion, Gallagher said. "He always cared about everyone else," Gallagher recalled for a reporter. "After a recent fire at the Marquis Apartments he called up and asked if everyone was all right. Then he asked about the firefighters' performance at the fire."
Daywalt served as an assistant fire chief, using the radio call sign "5-3," from 1971 to 2001. The "five" designated a fire chief and the "three" meant Daywalt was responsible for ladder-company operations, Gallagher said.

His fire helmet with the "5-3" designation will be carried into the church before the funeral service begins.
Vince Mazzotta, the fire-company treasurer and a volunteer fireman since 1979, praised Daywalt as an instructor. "He was a very good teacher," Mazzotta said. "He had his heart in this place. "He would poke fun at my follically challenged head. It was fun to be around him."

Daywalt was a retired tool and dye maker at the former Synthane & Taylor Co. in Oaks. He suffered from diabetes and used crutches to get around the first floor of the Upper Merion home that he shared with his wife, Carol. From 2003 he was the fire company's chief of administration. His only son, William C. Daywalt Jr., is the fire company's current fire chief. "He's a lot like his father," said Robin Ross, the safety officer and fire-prevention director, said of the younger Daywalt, "dedicated to helping the community."
Ross called the senior Daywalt "an amazing officer, educator and one of the most dedicated people in the fire company. He is a legend to us."

Gallagher remembered that when Daywalt supervised a firefighting crew his first concern was for their safety. "He would use a humble, calming type of voice," Gallagher said. "He would say, "If it gets too bad, don't go in (to the fire)."

"He was tough, but like a teddy bear," Ray Barkmeyer, a fire company trustee and former chief engineer, told a television interviewer Thursday night. "He got the job done. He was a likeable fellow. He's going to be missed."

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