Hempfield No. 2 becomes 2nd chartered member of township fire department

A month after the North Hempfield fire station became the first chartered member of the Hempfield Township Fire Department, a second station has followed suit.

During a township meeting Monday evening, supervisors accepted the declaration of intent for the Hempfield No. 2 station, meaning the township will acquire the Thornton Avenue fire station and related assets. The vote authorizes the township solicitor to begin the transfer of ownership.

“Our township is taking on all the financial problems that departments worry about,” said Hempfield No. 2 fire Chief Tom Kline. “They are taking wasted time spent selling tickets, fish fries, sub sales and raffles off our hands and giving us more time to train and answer the alarms when the public needs us.”

Supervisors have been working for years to revamp the township’s fire service by creating a Bureau of Fire and a public safety committee. Recently, officials focused on improving their rating with New Jersey-based Insurance Services Offices Inc., or ISO, which impacts homeowner insurance rates.

As part of those efforts, officials established under one department 11 stations that had operated independently. Under that department, headed by a paid fire chief and deputy fire chief, stations are required to sign service agreements, which lay out certain protocols.

The 11 stations operate as nonchartered members with their own set of bylaws in addition to the service agreements. As chartered members, North Hempfield and Hempfield No. 2 are under the township’s purview and do not follow any other guidelines.

Township Manager Jason Winters said the township had conversations with other stations about becoming chartered members.

“Now that we did it one time, we have a little bit more of a straightforward process,” Winters said in reference to North Hempfield becoming the first chartered member.

Kline added work done by the township fire chief and deputy fire chief is helping to make the fire service “a stronger, better-trained fire department to protect our members and also those who call for us and by us going all in shows that the volunteers of Hempfield Township care about our community and the life of the fire service.”