Concerns grow in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, after fire station went out of service

Upper Darby officials said there was no lack of fire coverage in the Drexel Hill section of the township, even as one of its stations went out of service.

"I don't know what the answer is," a person said.

That was the lunchtime chatter at Gambol's Cafe in Drexel Hill. The drinks were flowing, as was the debate.

"If they don't have the training, how can they do the service?" one man asked.

People sounded off, hearing that the Garrettford-Drexel Hill Fire Company didn't respond to any emergency calls on Wednesday night. In the emergency services industry, it's what's known as going "out of service."

For Mike Gambol, the owner of Gambol's Cafe for decades, he's concerned it might happen again.

"If that should happen, what do we do?" Gambol said. "Where do we go? Who covers the area?"

Frustrations boiled on social media. Most questioned the reason for the decision to go out of service. 

Upper Darby Township officials late Thursday morning called a news conference. They said the Garrettford-Drexel Hill Fire Company Wednesday night was unable to conform to a 2020 township policy requiring certain national standards.

"All officers riding as the officer in charge of a fire apparatus have a minimum credential known as fire officer number one," Upper Darby Chief Nicholas Martin said.

Martin, who's been on the job as head of the Upper Darby Fire Department for six months, said Garrettford, earlier this week, was informed that enforcement of those six-year-old policies would begin.

CBS News Philadelphia obtained 911 dispatch audio when the station was taken out of service. Questions swirl about who ultimately decided to take Garrettford offline.

The transcript below shows a back-and-forth between the chief of Garrettford and a Delaware County 911 dispatcher:

"Chief one to fire board," a person said.

"Chief One," a person said.

"Put Station 20 (Garrettford Drexel Hill) out of service per Car One," another person said.

"Station 20 out of service," a person said.

"Per Car One," the person replied.

"I am Car One," Martin said in response to questions from CBS News Philadelphia. 

"It should be mentioned when that transmission was made I was attending a conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania," he added. "I did not have any direct communication with anyone from Garrettford last night."

Martin described any decision to remove the station from service a "mischaracterization" that it came from him.

The township also explained its own surprise the fire company went out of service given officials say more than a dozen volunteer members meet the certification the township now mandates.

Leaders said they're open to working with Garrettford and its volunteers.

"I recognize the history of operating this way for years," Upper Darby Mayor Ed Brown (D) said. "But certainly we have to, sometimes, have to modify policies and procedures to operate in the time period we are in now."

Nicholas Hoyt lives down the street from the fire station, and had strong reaction about questions over quality of service.

"The qualification thing I think is an absolute joke," he said. "These people have been running forever. There are too many layers to say something has to be a certain level of quality."

Garrettford-Drexel Hill Chief Jim Hoban declined to take questions until he had a chance to review the township's comments from earlier Thursday.