After Millcreek Township Supervisors officially approved the township fire department on Tuesday night, a local fire chief and supervisor reacted to the plans of the fire department and what can be expected.
Despite some positions being paid while others are not within the new fire department — the fire chief and Millcreek Township Supervisor both believe volunteerism will continue in Millcreek.
As planning continues for the Millcreek Township Fire Department, Millcreek Township Supervisor Kim Clear said their next steps involve filling vacant positions like the fire chief and eight paid, full-time firefighters.
“These eight full-time firefighters are actually going to assist the already existing volunteer fire departments,” said Kim Clear, Millcreek Township Supervisor.
The fire chief of West Ridge Fire Department said the new addition is necessary for public safety.
“The number of volunteers continue to decrease, while the number of calls for service continue to increase,” said James Rosenbaum, Fire Chief of the West Ridge Fire Department.
Rosenbaum said he understands the concern of volunteerism decreasing due to the eight full-time, paid firefighter positions, but he believes it will not put negative effects on service.
“It’s our intention for the service to improve, to have a more stable firefighting force actually, because it’s that stability that’s absolutely essential 24/7. We can’t have a situation where you call during certain hours and you know you’re going to get a response and then you call outside those hours and it’s a crapshoot. We can’t have that,” Rosenbaum said.
Supervisor Clear said at this stage the paid firefighters will not diminish the need for volunteers in the community.
“It is because of the goodness of people that we are able to kind of come together as a community, I don’t think that that’s gone, I don’t think that volunteerism is dead. I personally think that it’s something to be celebrated,” Supervisor Clear said.
Clear said the pay for the full-time firefighters has not been decided yet, but they are hoping to provide a fair living wage.