Hempfield gets green light to explore possible new fire station

Hempfield officials got the OK this week to negotiate a potential land partnership with the school district to possibly build a new fire station.

Township supervisors approved the measure that could bring the new station to Hempfield Area School District property near West Hempfield elementary school.

That location is ideal, said Ken Wees, president of the Adamsburg fire station. The majority of calls for Adamsburg firefighters are within 1 mile of where the new station is proposed.

“We believe it would be a big win,” Wees told supervisors Monday.

Adamsburg firefighters expressed interest earlier this year in turning over management of its department to the township in a bid to become “nonchartered.” Of the township’s 10 stations, North Hempfield was the first to take the jump to become nonchartered in 2021, receiving a $1.8 million refurbishment of its building along Business Route 66.

Stations in Fort Allen, Midway-St. Clair, Adamsburg and Grapeville are in various stages of making the change.

It was a priority in 2024 for township officials to identify land opportunities in the western part of Hempfield to build a new station. The township has allocated $5 million from a 2022 bond to fund construction.

In expressing support for the negotiations with the school district, Wees said the current Adamsburg station on Edna Road was built in the 1950s.

“Fire trucks were much smaller and much less expensive then,” he said.

The station’s location has become a safety hazard, too. It is on a blind spot on the road, which Wees said has resulted in a firefighter, fire trucks and firefighters’ personal vehicles getting hit by passing motorists.

“Traffic on Edna Road has increased exponentially,” he said.

Township supervisors also approved partnering on a study through the state Department of Community and Economic Development that would examine the efficacy and efficiency of fire stations in New Stanton, Youngwood and Hempfield.

New Stanton council took the lead on the study, inviting the two neighboring municipalities to join.

Hempfield’s Midway-St. Clair fire station is about 3 miles away from the Youngwood Volunteer Fire Department and about 6 miles away from New Stanton’s station.