Warminster Fire Companies, Township Nearing Deal

WARMINSTER, PA —Warminster Township hopes to settle some issues with its two fire companies regarding staffing, officials said.

An item is listed on the agenda for Thursday night's meeting asking Warminster Township Supervisors to consider the approval of an agreement between the township and the Hartsville Fire Company, Warminster Township Fire Department.

"We should have a nice announcement," Supervisors Chairman Kenneth Hayes told Patch.

Details of that announcement, though, were not listed on the agenda as on prior agendas.

At its May meeting, supervisors tabled a proposal to authorize the township's administration to proceed with the creation of a Firefighter/Fire Inspector position to staff three new full-time employees.

"We're fine-tuning the contract with our volunteer fire companies. But this will be another milestone for Warminster Township," Hayes said at that time.

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.

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.

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