Baldwin Officials Respond—Sometimes Loudly—to Option Firefighters

A crowd of almost 40 people, including about a dozen Option Independent Fire Company volunteers, gathered for a Baldwin Council meeting on Tuesday night and listened to a sometimes-heated exchange between borough officials and the firefighters over the future of their company.

Option Fire officials, who held their own meeting in June to contest possible fire company mergers in Baldwin Borough, continued to object to such a measure at Tuesday's meeting.

The Option officials say that they do not want their company, which has a headquarters along Streets Run Road in central Baldwin, to be shut down. But borough leaders—Mayor Alexander R. Bennett Jr. and borough Manager John Barrett were the most vocal on Tuesday—insist that no companies will be closed.

Barrett says that Option will likely be merged, however, with the borough's other companies.

The most likely scenario is that South Baldwin Volunteer Fire Company (McAnulty Road), the northern part of the borough's Baldwin Independent Fire Company No. 1 (Churchview Avenue), and Option Fire will somehow share assets and operate two fire departments—one in north Baldwin and one in the south.

Discussions over this scenario had been taking place in private at Baldwin's Emergency Management Committee meetings, but Option Fire officials took their objections public at their meeting in June and are also asking borough residents to attend council meetings to object to having only two departments.

"I would like for you to explain to me why you're closing down my fire department," said Darlene Masten, a Beryl Drive resident, at Tuesday's meeting.

Mayor Bennett responded.

"One of them people (Option volunteers) told you that," Bennett said, "not us.

"We don't know what the future fire service in Baldwin is. We're trying to make the best service we can for our residents. And that's our responsibility.

"We might have to look, in the future, at paid daylight firemen. We'll cross that bridge when we come there.

"But at this point in time, we're not closing any fire stations down."

In a separate Patch interview with Barrett, the borough manager explained that Option Fire's objection to merging with the other two Baldwin companies is puzzling.

"Through the Emergency Management Committee, the fire chiefs and borough officials seemingly had (previously) agreed to a plan whereby South Baldwin Volunteer Fire Department and Option would sell their buildings and place the proceeds into (a) restricted fund.

"The (fund's) sole purpose (would be) supporting volunteer fire service in the borough (and) was agreed to by all parties. The idea would be that Becks Run (Volunteer Fire Department)'s assets would be redistributed to the other three departments—partially—and the equipment that was not vital to these operations would be liquidated and placed into this special fund."

The Baldwin Council decertified Becks Run Fire in December following embezzlement charges.

Barrett continued, "These funds would be used to construct a larger, more central firehouse (but in the south) that could accommodate a larger (southern) department. The committee generally discussed searching for a new location for a Southern District firehouse which ideally would be located on Brownsville Road or in a location strategically located in the southern portion of the borough."

But Barrett said that all of that changed when Option Fire filed a petition in Allegheny County's Orphans' Court Division, "requesting to be named guardian of the Becks Run assets."

"We will move forward with a two-district system," Barrett said. "We will look to build a fire station in the Southern District and potentially aid Baldwin No. 1 in expanding the footprint of their building. We don't have a timetable for this process, but Step 1 is having the Orphans' Court appoint the borough as guardian of Becks Run's assets so to create a pool of funds to implement this strategy."

Option officials do not deny trying to claim Becks Run's assets, contending that Becks Run officials wanted it that way.

"Becks Run came to Option, totally unsolicited," said Nancy Barylak, Option's vice president, in June. "We were caught off-guard. They said, 'We want you to have our assets—not only our money but our equipment.'

"The borough does not want that. They want the assets."

The dispute is still in the courts system.

Barylak said that Option would share Becks Run's assets with the other Baldwin fire companies but only after having first pick over them.

This disagreement with borough officials is much to blame for the tension between Option Fire and Baldwin's government.

"At the last (Emergency Management Committee) meeting, I was jumped all over as a fire chief," Option Chief Jim Barbour said on Tuesday, prompting Bennett to raise his voice in reply.

"At the last meeting, you quit," the mayor said.

Option officials say that, without their volunteer service, central Baldwin's residents and structures would be put at a great safety risk.

"We believe, as firefighters, as the ones getting on the truck 24/7," Barylak said in June, "that (quick) response times would be difficult depending on where they put (any) new stations at.

"Your (residents') insurance rates will rise."

On Tuesday, Barrett called those notions "scare tactics."

In the Patch interview, he said, "We believe that, by merging South Baldwin and Option, the residents of Baldwin will be better served. We believe that response times will go down. We believe that we can eliminate duplication of equipment, formalize training and reduce operating expenses.

"The driving force is to improve fire services. A study by the PA DCED (Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development) of the Baldwin volunteer fire departments pointed out that we had an unnecessary duplication of equipment, that training was not consistent amongst our departments, and furthermore, they recommended that all four departments merge to form one volunteer fire department in the borough."

But Barrett said that the borough would only go so far as to have two departments.

According to a letter that Option officials mailed to residents and business owners in their service area, "A recent municipal study determined that Option Independent Fire Company receives the most calls of all stations and is responsible for the second-highest number of structures in Baldwin Borough."

Council President David Depretis said that the topic of Option Fire's future will be discussed at a future public hearing.

Check back with Patch for updates.