Forum tackles the future of firefighting in Hempfield

Some Hempfield firefighters came away from a department meeting Saturday with answers to their burning questions.

Others left seeking further information.

At Saturday’s fire forum, township officials hoped to smooth over concerns, answer uncertainties about the state of the fire department and clarify the “all-in” process, through which individual stations can decide to come under the department’s control.

The meeting was another step in an ongoing push from the township to invite more of the department’s 10 stations to become “nonchartered” — where a fire station goes under the direct management of the township in return for the township paying all of its expenses.

Fort Allen Volunteer Fire Department is the most recent of Hempfield’s 10 departments to take steps toward becoming nonchartered, following Midway-St.Clair and North Hempfield in moving under the township’s management umbrella.

For the seven stations that remain, and for Fort Allen and Midway-St.Clair themselves, which are still in the early stages of managing the transition, the meeting was a chance to gather more information about the process and talk to board and department officials directly.

“Over the years that I’ve been here, we have tried to make the fire service something that is going to be here for a long time to come, and we have provided all the resources that are necessary to make your mission work,” township Supervisor Doug Weimer said.

“I hope this morning’s events will affirm the township’s commitment to the volunteer fire service, and our mission, with your support, to provide emergency response to the Hempfield community for years to come,” fellow Supervisor Bill Bretz said.

Process of joining

The process of becoming nonchartered has 15 steps, township Manager Aaron Siko said. It usually takes about six to eight months overall. He highlighted it’s not “all or nothing” and said the township does not intend to force departments to join.

The noncharter process starts with a station crafting a letter of intent. The specifics are clarified between the township and the joining fire station through meetings. The two then proceed to hold station votes on final approval and complete legal paperwork to transfer fire station assets to the township.

For stations that operate fire company clubs or own other properties, things get slightly more complicated.

Siko noted that the township does not want to be in charge of operating fire clubs for liability reasons. So if a station with a fire club were to go all-in, that fire club would need to switch to a different building and be run through a nonprofit format or shut down altogether.

“Ultimately, our (goal) is to separate fire operations from business operations such as a club,” Siko said.

He emphasized the township does not want to erase the individual character of stations.

“Becoming a nonchartered station isn’t the loss of identity, it isn’t the loss of community,” Siko said. “It’s becoming a part of the Hempfield Fire Department as one sole entity, and certainly, finding a way to enhance the way we serve the community overall.

“We understand there are hundreds of years of service amongst all of you and amongst each of the stations, and we don’t take that lightly,” he said. “Part of that is something we hope to address throughout that acquisition process: We will find a way to make sure that identity stays within each of you and certainly stays within the Hempfield Fire Department overall.”

Firefighters look ahead

Some fire company members came away from the meeting still hesitant.

Many asked about the specifics of upcoming plans, such as the projected two new fire stations that the township hopes to build. One is planned to be near the soon-to-be-built Weatherwood Park in the east-central part of the township, and another would be in the western part of the township.

“We’re definitely still not going to go all in,” said Greg Saunders, Bovard Volunteer Fire Department’s executive officer. “We’re pretty adamant that we will not, unless we’re forced to in the end.”

“We got questions answered today, but they don’t know a lot of the answers, “said Jennifer Weyandt of the Grapeville Volunteer Fire Department.

Grapeville has a fire hall that is often rented out — as well as a post office — so what would happen to them if the station goes all in is a pressing question, she asked.

“We’re going to take it back to (the station) body and see what we want to do, what options we have and if we want to set up a meeting.”

Station data

Officials initially envisioned the forum as focusing on the details of becoming nonchartered, but over the course of the meeting, they shared data and overviews about the current state and future of the fire department as a whole.

Fire Chief Anthony Kovacic said the department responded to more than 2,700 calls last year.

Out of the 2,712 incident calls the department received, 204 were for actual fires, including structure fires, car fires and brush fires. That’s 7.5% of calls, Kovacic said.

Other calls were for false alarms or “good-intention” calls that don’t turn out to be fires, hazardous conditions like downed wires and ambulance assists.

The department receives the most calls during the daytime, starting at 7 a.m., which can be problematic when most volunteer firefighters have day jobs, Kovacic said.

“Just like everybody else, at 7 a.m., a lot of you guys are going to work at 7 a.m.,” he said. “When the whistle activates, when the siren blows, when the pager goes off, you can’t be in two places at one time.”

The officials also talked over the plan to hire four part-time paid fire truck drivers who would work out of township-managed facilities during daylight hours.

A motion to advertise the positions was tabled at a recent township meeting but will be up for a vote again this month.

The highest levels of calls with failures to respond at all stations are during the daytime. Mobilizing enough firefighters in time is also a challenge, Kovacic said.

The stations can only get to a scene in under 12 minutes with four volunteers responding 37% of the time.

“It’s a situation that’s throughout the commonwealth. Years ago, we worked shifts. Years ago, the mines were working. We had various mills that were working 3-11, 11-7,” Kovacic said. “A lot of that was the fire service. Firefighters had jobs that afforded them the ability to respond during the day or overnight.”

The township hopes to keep changing and growing in order to keep up, supervisors said.

“We’re trying to make those best decisions so that we can evolve together and continue to have this as a part of our community,” Weimer said. “If we don’t evolve, as with any type of evolution, we’re going to go extinct.

“I don’t want the volunteer system to go extinct in this township.”