A cooperative, firefighter’s duty crew between Lower Burrell, New Kensington and Arnold is a step closer to become a reality.

New Kensington Council on Monday approved a preliminary agreement between the city, Lower Burrell and Arnold, to establish a Tri-Cities duty crew for daytime volunteer fire coverage among the three cities.

“It will utilize the tri-city duty crew to respond for all three cities,” said Lower Burrell City Manager Greg Primm.

Arnold and Lower Burrell officials will consider the rules later this summer.

New Kensington Fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr. said fire officials hope to have the duty crew established sometime in August.

“That’s going to be a very beneficial thing, not just for New Kensington, but the tri-city area,” Saliba said.

The cities’ four fire chiefs — Saliba, Arnold’s Eric Gartley, Kinloch’s Ted Hereda and Lower Burrell’s Brennan Sites — presented the plan to all three city councils in April.

There, the chiefs recognized a need for improved daytime response for volunteer fire protection and emergency services due to reduced availability of volunteers during the workday.

But while volunteerism is decreasing, the calls are not: for example, in May, the New Kensington fire department responded to 130 alarms in the city alone, Saliba said. That amounts to more than four calls per day.

According to the draft, the four fire departments from Lower Burrell, New Kensington and Arnold would work together to provide daily rotating staffing at one or more stations within the Tri-Cities.

Staffing would be drawn from volunteer firefighters across the departments.

Daylight hours would be 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A Tri-Cities fire oversight committee would be established with representation from each city department, the draft said. That committee would oversee things such as scheduling, staffing, performance evaluation, training and intergovernmental reporting.

Under the agreement, Primm said, each city’s workers’ compensations would cover their city firefighters, regardless of the response location.

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