3 Full-time Firefighters Hired In Warminster Township

WARMINSTER, PA —The township now has full-time firefighters to cover daytime hours.

Warminster Township Manager Tom Scott announced the formation and staffing of a team of professional firefighters over the weekend.

The firefighters began their tenure with the township on Monday.

Scott said that the firefighters are full-time municipal employees under the direction of Joe Velten, the township's emergency management and services director.

Scott said the firefighters will work with the township's two volunteer fire companies —the Warminster Township Fire Department and the Hartsville Fire Company —to help provide additional available fire and rescue personnel during the business day on Mondays through Fridays.

"The Board of Supervisors of Warminster Township is pleased to work with both the Volunteer Warminster Fire Department and the Volunteer Hartsville Fire Company to provide this additional new level of commitment to public safety and is grateful to both volunteer organizations for their guidance and strategic collaborative partnership," Scott said.

Scott said the township is bringing three firefighters on board at once and they will be introduced at Thursday's supervisors meeting.

Supervisors had reached an agreement with the fire companies over the summer to hire three full-time fighters, ending a long-time dispute with the fire companies that one fire chief called a "roller coaster" to go through the process.

"The Warminster Fire Department and Hartsville Fire Company are looking forward to working with our new township firefighters," a Facebook post from the fire companies said. "This is the culmination of many years of work by the leadership and volunteers of both companies and the Fire Marshall’s office."

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 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.

The addition of daytime staffing will help Warminster Township’s Fire Services continue to provide the highest level of fire protection to the residents and visitors of Warminster Township by assisting us when manpower is least available —weekdays," the fire companies said.