As part of its long term strategic plan, Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company #3 is selling its Edgecliff Road substation.
Because of mechanical issues at the substation, it has operated solely out of its main station on Leechburg Road for the past six months, which has created quicker response times, efficiency and increased staffing, said Chief Brennan Sites.
He said the department has been able to get more trucks and larger crews to fires since it has been operating out of one location.
When operating two stations, it may have only been able to send three people on one truck, whereas now it can send five, he said.
“That sounds like not a lot but (when) you have more people on that apparatus, everyone has a job, they fulfill that job, it makes things more efficient,” Sites said. “From a chief’s perspective, operationally, I have seen an improvement on how we handle ourselves on calls.”
The past six months, acting as a trial period, have also bolstered morale and planning cohesion in the department, he said.
The substation is listed for $175,000 on Century 21 American Heritage Realty.
Money from the sale will go toward costs for a new custom, dual-purpose rescue engine, which the department will get in July 2027, Sites said.
“This new rescue engine, again being dual-purpose, can do firefighting activities and rescue activities,” Sites said.
It would reduce the department’s fleet, replacing a rescue engine sold last year and a fire engine to be sold once the new vehicle arrives.
Sites said, while the department is thinking of how to meet its current operational needs, it’s also thinking about how to strengthen operations 10 to 15 years into the future and voted to sell the substation after months of deliberation.
“The membership at the substation has always ebbed and flowed over the years,” he said. “Over the last 30 years, that station has just never been a consistent output of people.”
In its future plans is also the Tri-City Duty Crew, a cooperative program among Lower Burrell, New Kensington and Arnold fire department’s intended to improve response, especially for weekday fires, in the face of decreased volunteerism.
Officials announced that plan, which would pay the daytime crew on an hourly basis, last year with hopes of starting it this year.
