(3/18) Rumors circulating southwestern Adams County about a pending merger between the Fairfield and Fountaindale volunteer fire companies are untrue, Carroll Valley Borough Manager Dave Hazlett said during March’s borough council meeting.
Hazlett told the council that at a recent meeting of the fire companies, he asked if the departments ever examined the possibility of merging. He noted the two companies, which are located six miles apart, have very similar equipment and apparatus.
"We thought, as a group, that we should encourage the fire departments to work together more in some fashion," Hazlett said. "That was the conversation, no one said there is going to be a merger, nobody said the municipalities are going to force them to do anything."
Council President Richard Mathews, who also attended the meeting, said Fountaindale plans to spend $1 million on a fire truck. Fairfield has the exact same truck, Mathews said.
"They are both small fire companies, the question was is there enough coordination going on between the local fire departments to maximize the efficiency and the dollars spent," he said.
Hazlett said he was asked to coordinate a meeting to continue the conversation about finding efficiencies between the two organizations.
"Our position has been for many years, and will continue to be, that we should find ways to bridge across municipal boundaries and any other type of boundaries to do it collaboratively," he said.
Hazlett noted the companies ask the borough for "very little" support but they do ask the community for donations and fundraiser support. Exploring options such as a shared service agreement or merger could lessen the stress on residents.
Fire company mergers have seen success in Adams County in the past 20 years. In 2004, Brushtown, Centennial, McSherrystown, and Conewago fire companies merged to become Southeastern Adams Volunteer Emergency Services.
In 2016, Bonneauville Fire Company merged with United Hook and Ladder, which itself is a merger of the former New Oxford and Abbottstown fire departments.
Also in 2016, Gettysburg and Barlow fire companies explored a merger but never finalized an agreement.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, volunteers account for 96.8 percent of firefighters in Pennsylvania. A 2018 study commissioned by the Pennsylvania legislature stated there were about 300,000 volunteer firefighters in the state in the 1970s. By 2018, that number had fallen to about 38,000.
The report's 27 recommendations included simplifying regionalization, boosting state aid, setting standards for firefighter training, and requiring sprinklers in new home construction.
"Resources, funds, and legislative change must be committed to improve the infrastructure for public safety performance," the report stated. "Moreover, we must try to find a flexible system that will work within this dynamic and challenging environment called Pennsylvania."
