Montco Fire Co. Briefly Goes Offline Amid Sudden Resignations

EAST NORRITON, PA — A local fire department is back online and ready to respond to all emergency calls after a controversy involving township officials led it being briefly taken out of service.

Line officers with the Norriton Fire Engine Company announced their resignation on Wednesday night due to their differences with leadership in East Norriton Township, according to a Facebook post that has since been deleted.

"After reading the Fire Company Facebook post, Twp. Officials decided, out of an abundance of caution and in the best interests of our residents, to take the Norriton Fire Company temporarily out of service as we found out more information regarding the sudden and completely unexpected resignation of their officers," the township said in a statement regarding the incident.

While Norriton Fire was briefly out of service, East Norriton Township residents were covered by fire departments in nearby municipalities, as well as four township employees who provide "fire protection coverage." Many residents had expressed concerns that they were not covered in the event of an emergency, which was not the case.

Late Thursday night, Norriton Fire said that they met with the township to discuss the issues and that they were back online.

"Both NFEC and ENT are working towards the common goal of Public Safety," the fire company said in a message shared on social media. "The NFEC will continue to respond to any emergency call. 24 Hours a day 7 days a week."

Neither the township or the fire company have elaborated further on the specifics of their dispute, though the township did note that volunteers with the fire company had approached the township with "operational concerns" recently.

In response to those concerns, the township said they had taken several measures to assist the the fire company, including contracting a fire services consultant to help identify areas of need, and starting a stipend program for volunteer firefighters.

"For these reasons and more, we were shocked by the sudden and abrupt nature of their line officers' actions," the township said.

The full statement from the township is available here.