New Kensington Volunteer Fire Department to consolidate fire stations
The New Kensington Volunteer Fire Department has found itself going on more fire calls each year, but with fewer volunteers.
How does the city maintain service and do more with less? The answer involves consolidating the fire company.
New Kensington currently has five fire stations, and they have a consolidation plan for three of those.
First, they want to close Engine House No. 2 on Freeport Street in the Parnassus part of town. The department would then like to use the Hilltop House No. 3 on Victoria Avenue as an administrative building.
Then, they would like to have all the firefighters from those two stations work out of their main building, Station No. 1, along Fourth Avenue.
Station No. 1, officially known as Citizens Volunteer Fire Company No. 1, is where KDKA-TV spoke with New Kensington Fire Chief Ed Saliba on Tuesday.
Saliba says that currently, New Kensington has 83 volunteer firefighters across their five stations who answer its ever-increasing call volume.
He says that they, like many other volunteer companies across the Commonwealth and across the U.S., are fighting an uphill battle, trying to get more volunteers and maintain service with fewer people.
"Here in New Kensington, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, we had a full roster of 125 active firefighters, answering out of five stations, and each station had a waiting list," Saliba said. "That doesn't happen here anymore. We are begging for volunteers, good volunteers. We are beyond crisis right now."
Chief Saliba said the three consolidating stations are within about a mile of each other, and Station No. 1, which has already seen over 400 fire calls this year alone, is the ideal location for the majority of the department to work from.
Station No. 4, on Strawn Avenue, and Station No. 5 on Camp Avenue, will not change.
Saliba said that although their response times are good right now, they will only improve with this consolidation move to Station No. 1. He says they are looking to renovate Station No. 1 so it can be comfortably manned around the clock.
"What used to be the meeting room of Station One is being converted into a bunk room," Saliba said. "Our goal is to try and staff this station as much as we can around the clock to make it easier to answer our alarms when a call is sent out to us."
This consolidation has been approved by the city, but it still needs approval by Pennsylvania's Attorney General. The city is hopeful that the consolidation will be approved and will take place sometime before the end of the year.
If you live in New Kensington and want to join the volunteer ranks, Chief Saliba says to stop by Station No. 1 and ask for an application.