3 Full-Time Firefighters Approved For Warminster

WARMINSTER, PA —It came without fanfare or ceremony, but Warminster Township officials may have put an end to its dispute with its two fire companies over full-time firefighter coverage during the day.

At its meeting Thursday, Warminster Township Supervisors unanimously approved the hiring of three full-time firefighters to help handle daytime fire calls.

"Finally, we've been working hard on this for three years," Supervisors Chairman Kenneth Hayes said. "I'm really thrilled that we got this done."

Over the past few years, township officials and its two fire companies —the Warminster Fire Department and the Hartsville Fire Company —have disagreed about why the township does not have daytime fire coverage.

Hayes said at the meeting that township officials negotiated with the two fire companies during several meetings to iron out the agreement.

The two fire companies held town hall meetings at the beginning of the year to state their case to residents that fire officials tried to seek funding for full-time firefighters. The fire companies have criticized the township for failing to provide adequate daytime coverage.

The fire department has argued that Warminster received a $1.8 million SAFER grant two years ago to pay for five full-time firefighters for three years but the township never enacted it.

At prior meetings, Hayes disputed with Warminster Fire Chief Mitch Shapiro about why the township wasn't providing full-time coverage during the day.

"Mitch and I were always on the same page," Hayes said. "We just had to figure out how to pay for them."

During the meeting, officials did not provide further details about the agreement in terms of when the firefighters would be hired, how much they might be paid, and how the township would be able to foot the bill.

Shapiro and Hartsville Fire Chief Chris McDonald were not at the meeting, with Hayes saying the fire chiefs were "both working."

Hayes said that through "its good financial director" John Ramey that the three firefighters will be hired without raising township taxes.

He also said that there "may be a little fanfare" about the agreement at the July supervisors' meeting.

Township Solicitor Scott Holbert said that the two fire companies and the township were expected to sign the agreement this week.

The Hartsville Fire Company recently celebrated its 100th anniversary with a muster.