Strawpump Volunteer Fire Department is poised to regain its fire service area in the eastern end of North Huntingdon.
Eighteen months after having its territory split between two adjacent volunteer departments, its fire insurance rating is now at an acceptable level, according to the township.
North Huntingdon commissioners on Thursday indicated they would reinstate Strawpump as the lead department for its fire service territory. None of the seven commissioners voiced opposition. The commissioners meet again April 15.
Strawpump fire Chief Ryan Senica asked the commissioners to reinstate the territory because Verisk Analytics Inc., a New Jersey-based fire insurance rating service, has indicated the department has a pathway to a rating of 5. That is an acceptable level as required when the township split the territory in November 2024.
Fairmont-Hahntown and Westmoreland City fire departments have been covering the area. A rating of 5 is the midpoint between the best and worst ratings for a department’s ability to fight a fire.
Verisk is the parent company of Insurance Services Office, which determines fire suppression ratings. According to the company, 50% of the rating is based on equipment, staffing, training and automatic aid. Another 40% is based on the adequacy of the water supply available from hydrants, the availability of alternative water sources and the volume and pressure compared to the amount needed to fight a fire.
Senica, who became chief in January 2025, said after the meeting that the reinstatement is an indication of the work volunteers have done over the past 18 months.
Commissioner Ronald Zona said the board had agreed that when Strawpump receives an acceptable rating, its service area will be returned.
“They got the rating up to where it needs to be,” Zona said.
Reinstating the territory would mean Strawpump receives the full allocation the township gives to each of the municipality’s seven departments. Because Strawpump lacks a service territory, it was receiving only half of the $81,814 allocation this year. Senica asked the commissioners last month to reinstate both the territory and the full municipal allocation.
Strawpump had its territory divided in 2024 because its insurance rating dropped to 10 — the worst possible rating — in July 2024. Some residents complained to commissioners at the time that the poor rating caused their homeowner’s insurance to increase.
“Essentially, the old ISO rating is history,” Senica said of the 10 rating.
Township manager Harry Faulk said he contacted the rating service to verify that Strawpump had improved its standing.
North Huntingdon is in the midst of creating a fire services study committee with representatives from each of the seven departments and up to three commissioners and an an administrator, but Senica said it would not be fair for Strawpump to wait for that committee to make a recommendation to the commissioners.
“We have achieved that goal (fire insurance rating) and then you move the goal posts further away,” Senica said of the possibility of waiting for a recommendation from the fire services study committee.
