Newtown Supervisor Presses For New Fire And Police Stations

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — A Newtown Township supervisor is calling on the board to move forward with plans in 2026 for a new police station and a firehouse.

“We have a great need for two new buildings - one for our police department and one for our firefighters,” said Supervisor Elen Snyder Wednesday night.

“Our police are working in a place more suited for teaching preschoolers,” said Snyder. “Our police work in small rooms - boxes, really - not a place where they can all sit down in a meeting to hear from the chief or the duty officer. The small rooms accommodate one desk and maybe two for the detectives interviewing suspects as well as doing their own paperwork.”

Since the new administration building was built at 100 Municipal Drive, the police department has used the former township building next door as its headquarters.

“It is not really a police administration building,” said Snyder. “It is very short of being that, but they make it work. They need a new building.”

Plans for a new police and fire station have been mentioned several times in passing at board meetings, but have never been the topic of a formal presentation. Last May, the supervisors commissioned Gorski Engineering to conduct a $25,000 fire building study.

Snyder called the need for a new fire station a "matter of life and death.

"We must have a new building,” said Snyder. “Our firefighters are working in a place that contains noxious fumes that can cause cancer and heart disease," she said of Station 55, which is located at the township complex. “All you have to do is walk into the station and you will immediately know exactly what I’m talking about," she said. "How can we take our firefighters’ lives for granted?”

Snyder said a new building would provide a safer environment for the township's firefighters, separating the station into a hot and cold zone.

In the hot zone, she said engine exhaust would be properly handled, and firefighters returning from a fire would have an area to strip off their gear, which would be cleaned of potential carcinogens with specialized washers and dryers. The cold side would house administrative and living quarters.

Snyder said that with the planned purchase of two new engines over the next few years and the township continuing to hire new paid firefighters, the need for a new station is evident.

Snyder said the township needs a modern firehouse to accommodate the change from a volunteer force to a career fire department, including overnight living quarters.

“We need a place to put these new fire engines, and more importantly, we need a place where our paid firefighters can sleep and eat," said Snyder. "I hope the supervisors will take that into account when they are thinking about the lives of the firefighters who, every day, put themselves in danger."