By Brad Pedersen
The Leader Times
KITTANNING, Pa. — West Kittanning Volunteer Fire Department could be merging with the Applewold and East Franklin fire departments to form West Hills Emergency Services.
A committee from West Kittanning plans to meet with members of the West Hills Emergency Services to discuss joining the two-community department on Thursday, said Mark Feeney, president of Applewold Borough Council and chief of the East Franklin Fire Department.
“We’re in the preliminary stages, but I think they are a fire department that needs some help covering costs and providing services, just like Applewold and East Franklin did,” Feeney said. “We’re going to sit down to discuss what we can offer with the merger and see if it meets their needs.”
Charlie Goldinger, a member of the West Kittanning Fire Department, said he brought up the issue to address potential manpower concerns. He thinks the three departments working together would have a stronger presence in the region.
“Volunteers are harder to come by these days, so for me, this is strictly about manpower,” Goldinger said. “I guess we’ll have to wait to see how Thursday’s meeting goes.”
West Hills Emergency Services formed when the Applewold and East Franklin volunteer fire departments began efforts to merge the two organizations to cut insurance costs and bolster the volunteer roster.
They began efforts to merge the two departments last year and have been meeting monthly to fill out state-mandated paperwork and discuss how the two would work as one cohesive organization, Feeney said.
East Franklin’s 23-member department offers fire and ambulance services. Applewold’s eight-man department only fights fires. Each of Applewold’s firefighters are members of the East Franklin department.
Feeney estimated the two departments would save about $14,000 annually on insurance costs.
The two departments decided East Franklin’s three-bay station on East Brady Road will serve as the West Hills Emergency Services’ headquarters. It is about two miles north of Applewold’s one-truck garage on Ridge Avenue.
The Applewold building will be used to store a truck and equipment. An East Franklin satellite station in Cowansville will continue operations.
While the paperwork and studies are done to merge East Franklin and Applewold, Feeney said officials are waiting to file it with the state until West Kittanning decides if it will join.
“It wouldn’t take that much more work to include West Kittanning in the merger, so we’re going to wait for their answer before we file,” Feeney said. “Once we do send in our paperwork, it should take four to six months to have it all done.”
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©2015 The Leader Times (Kittanning, Pa.)