Study recommends consolidation of fire departments across six municipalities

A fire regionalization study recently completed by the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development, which studied the fire departments of Annville, North Cornwall, West Cornwall, and West Lebanon townships and Cleona and Cornwall boroughs, recommended consolidation of departments.

The advisory report recommends Annville Cleona FD, Neversink FC, and Speedwell Engine & Hose Company either consolidate or come under an operational commission, representing the northern part of the studied area. In 2024, these companies received 591, 455, and 85 calls respectively throughout the year.

Similarly, the study recommended that Community FC of Cornwall, Mount Gretna FC, and Quentin FC do the same, representing the southern region. These companies received 329, 252, and 216 calls respectively in 2024.

The document explains that if consolidated, fire companies would operate as one and provide services to all involved areas. Under an operational commission model, companies would “maintain their individual identities and response areas” but be managed by leadership overseeing them as one organization.

The study goes into depth about stats for each participating municipality and fire company, ranging from call volume by time of day to average response time to coverage area.

It found that the northern and southern regions studied are fairly well-served by active fire companies, but the area between them, referred to as a “no man’s land,” is inadequately covered.

The report said the process had observed staffing issues, similar/redundant equipment between nearby departments, and struggles paying for staffing and apparatus.

“Regardless of municipality,” the report reads, “none of the participating fire companies are equipped and staffed enough to handle a building fire by themselves. They all rely on mutual aid, and they all provide mutual aid. The current mutual aid relationships can be used as an excellent starting point to purposefully evolve those relationships further.”

Other recommendations of the advisory report are as follows:

• That Annville Cleona Fire Department consider renovating or relocating station 5, now in the center of Annville Township along 422 and lacking sleep accomodations. The report suggests that renovations may help recruit more Lebanon Valley College students. The report also suggests relocation to northern South Annville Township.

Read More: LVC students partner with A-C Fire Department to boost volunteer signups (2023)

• That Neversink Fire Company design and build a new fire station in the vacant lot next to the current station, which it already owns, to “accommodate the future staffing and apparatus needs of both North Cornwall Township and the entire region.”
• That any consolidated company, or operational commission, fund fire companies with “fair and appropriate distribution” through assessments of property values, populations, and incident call volumes, recommending reference of a VFIS 2016 study on the Kennett Area departments.
• That all participating fire companies implement a stipend program to incentivize additional and continued volunteering, “at the upper end of what is legally allowable” while being “within the range of affordability for the residents being served.”

Throughout the state, including in Lebanon County, fire companies are facing issues including an aging volunteer base and challenges soliciting volunteers, limited funding, and increases in operation costs (from apparatuses to equipment to training, with departments often relying on grant funding for major expenses). Traditional fundraising methods, such as sub sales, are no longer enough to consistently pay for these expenses.

Many believe it is only a matter of time until Pennsylvanian communities will no longer be able to rely on volunteer fire services. But local officials — such as Justin Snyder of West Lebanon Township Board of Commissioners, also a firefighter with the Speedwell Engine and Hose Company — hope this can be pushed back through tactics like regionalization and the institution of a fire tax, something West Lebanon is also considering for 2027.

“Inevitably, the volunteer service is losing the volunteers, and if the local municipalities don’t start making decisions and getting the fire companies to go along with it, places will end up closing down in the very near future,” said Snyder. “In the long haul, it’s a benefit for the constituents of both townships involved; public safety is number one and as a Class 1 township, we are required to have fire protection.”

Some municipalities, such as Millcreek Township, have discussed implementing incentive programs like EIT and property tax credits for volunteers with a certain amount of volunteer and training time.

Read More: Millcreek Township supervisors plan for 2027 fire tax and incentive program

South Lebanon Township, for instance, has instituted a cadet program to incentivize 16- and 17-year-olds to volunteer and receive credit towards Cornwall Lebanon School District senior projects, with the hopes these junior firefighters will become senior firefighters when they become adults.

Many municipalities have fire taxes, a dedicated mill tax to go toward fire company expenses, and some municipalities without (such as West Lebanon Township) are in discussion about implementing these taxes.

Read More: West Lebanon Township considers Coleman Memorial Park connection

Some fire companies have already merged, including Cleona Fire Company and Union Hose Company of Annville, which came together in 2022, South Lebanon’s merger of its three departments in 2023, and the North Annville Fire Department’s formation from Bellegrove and Union Water Works Fire Companies in 2025.

Now, the study is under review by fire companies and municipal governments, who will discuss next steps.

Concerns municipal governments may have about regionalization include worries of unfair funding distribution, loss of municipal control over the department, and/or worries of reduced response times to some areas.

Commissioner Michelle Testerman of West Lebanon Township said that, in a recent meeting to discuss the results of the study, a participant suggested the closure of Speedwell, something Snyder said was taken out of context.

As the study is a completely advisory document, “the successful implementation of any of these recommendations largely depends on the willingness of the fire company and municipal leaders to see them through,” the document states.