Allegheny Valley, Cheswick fire departments working toward merger

The Allegheny Valley and Cheswick volunteer fire departments hope to officially merge this year.

In the meantime, the two departments have been informally working together, pooling their resources and manpower. The two stations are five blocks apart, and both departments have been working out of the Allegheny Valley station. Allegheny Valley serves Springdale Township and Harmar.

“The number of volunteer firefighters and people able to respond to calls is declining,” Allegheny Valley Fire Chief Rick Franks said. “Our company realized that during the day we’re only getting one or two people, and maybe the other company up the street is only getting two or three people. Together we can maybe put a crew together and have a better response.”

Cheswick Council President Michael Girardi said the idea makes sense to him.

“Because they intend to merge together, it’s useful they’ve been working together,” Girardi said. “Every few months, someone from the department will give us an overview of where they’re at in the process. It’s been good working with them.”

Franks said things have been working out very effectively with the two departments joining forces.

“We’re sharing resources, we’re sharing personnel,” Franks said. “Just yesterday (Sunday), we had a call in Harmar. We handle that area too. So everybody showed up, and (Cheswick) guys were on our engine and our guys were on their engine. So it works out well joining forces and working together.

“It’s definitely a better situation for the community. We get a better response, better response time and so forth.”

The merger is in the hands of Allegheny County Common Pleas Court and representatives of the borough expect it to become official as early as July.