L. Towamensing formalizing firefighter pact

Lower Towamensing Township supervisors discussed drafting an inter-government agreement for fire protection on Tuesday night to provide coverage to Towamensing Township for fire calls.

Brent Green, chairman of the supervisors, said the township and Polk and Franklin townships have been providing coverage for the past six months. The agreement would formalize what they are already doing.

“That’s been working out relatively smoothly,” he said.

Each township is covering a specific section of Towamensing Township. When a call comes into the Carbon County Communication Center, they dispatch the township that agreed to cover that section.

“When we started it, we thought it would be temporary,” Green said. “The goal is that they get back on their feet.”

Steven Riggio, the fire chief for the Towamensing Fire Company, said they just got five new members, which brings their total to nine. Some of them have experience as firefighters, and others are new.

Anyone interested in joining their fire department is welcome to come to a training at 6 p.m. on Mondays or contact them via Facebook.

Riggio doesn’t know how long his department will need the help of neighboring municipalities.

“Right now, our first priority is to get the members,” he said. “We can use anybody for anything.”

In addition to fighting fires and responding to vehicle crashes, fire department volunteers also serve as fire police, with management, and with fundraising.

Towamensing isn’t alone in its struggle to get volunteers.

“We’re losing volunteers faster than we’re gaining them,” Green said. “It’s hard to recruit. I can’t imagine this is going away as an issue.”

Between people commuting a distance for work and getting involved in other activities when they are home, fewer and fewer people are volunteering.

“We need people to volunteer,” he said.

Green said Lower Towamensing gives the Aquashicola Volunteer Fire Company (the fire department for Lower Towamensing) $10,000 a year to help it increase recruitment.

Bill George, the fire chief for Aquashicola, said his department has a good number of volunteers, and credits good leadership and training opportunities for their numbers.

“We’ve been very fortunate to attract people,” he said. “We have a good group of men that work hard for us.”

The need for more volunteers is also critical when it comes to response time.

“When minutes count, that’s critical time,” Green said

Fires are burning hotter and faster than they did in 1970s. The lighter weight construction of newer houses causes them to burn up faster, and the increase of plastic in the houses increase the temperature of the fire.

“You’re seeing 1,000-degree fires in homes now,” he said.

The inter-government agreement is expected to be on the Lower Towamensing Township supervisor’s agenda for March.