Option Fire Crews Fighting to Stay Open in Baldwin (and More)

Jim Barbour knows that he's losing popularity among Baldwin Borough's leaders. But he doesn't want to lose his fire station, too.

Barbour, the chief of the Option Independent Fire Company in central Baldwin, says that he is disobeying borough officials and is taking public his opposition to a possible fire station merger.

The public heard Barbour's side of the story, as well as his Option Fire brethren's, at a community meeting held at the Option Independent headquarters along Streets Run Road on Wednesday night.

Barbour and Nancy Barylak, Option's vice president, said in front of a crowd of around 70 guests that borough officials intend to merge Option Fire with the South Baldwin Volunteer Fire Company in the near future so as to consolidate Baldwin's firefighting resources. But the consensus from Option's service members is that doing so would put residents and structures in central Baldwin—Option's service area—at a great safety risk.

And because of that risk, according to Barylak, home insurance rates in the area will rise, as well.

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

"Your insurance rates will rise."

Barbour is a part of the borough's Emergency Management Committee along with other local fire chiefs, the local police chief, the local emergency medical services chief, Baldwin Council's Public Safety Chair Larry Brown, borough Manager John Barrett, Mayor Alexander R. Bennett Jr. and Emergency Management Coordinator Kenneth Guerra, and the committee meets regularly (in private) to discuss topics like the possible consolidation of local fire companies.

Barbour said that he finds himself in the distinct minority of that group in that he and his Option colleagues oppose any move that would decrease the number of Baldwin fire companies, which currently sits at three after the Becks Run Volunteer Fire Department was decertified by the Baldwin Council in December. (Baldwin Independent Fire Company No. 1 serves the northern part of the borough, including the area left behind by Becks Run Fire.)

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."

Baldwin's size and unique shape—it extends from Bethel Park all the way to the Monongahela River—make it unsafe for just two fire companies to cover the borough's needs, Option officials say.

Barbour and Barylak are asking residents and business owners to contact borough administration to voice opposition to a merger. Option crews are also circulating a petition that states that opposition.

Another point of conflict between Option and the rest of the borough's emergency management leaders is that Option's crews do not wish to share evenly the assets left over from the closure of Becks Run, assets that they say that Becks Run's crews intended for Option.

"Becks Run came to Option, totally unsolicited," Barylak said. "We were caught off-guard.

"They said, 'We want you to have our assets—not only our money but our equipment.'"

But Barylak said that that idea has been met with serious resistance by borough officials and has since ended up in Allegheny County's Orphans' Court Division.

"The borough does not want that," Barylak said. "They want the assets."

Barylak contends that Option should have the first pick over Becks Run's assets, with the remaining assets divided up by the borough's other fire companies, or even by companies from less-advantaged communities.

But the prospect of a merger with South Baldwin was the hottest topic of Wednesday's meeting and is the only thing mentioned on Option's petition.

One resident said from the crowd on Wednesday night, "If you give me one of those (petition) sheets, I'll go door to door and get people to sign it."

Reached for comment after the meeting, South Baldwin Fire President Chad Hurka did not deny that fire company merger talks are ongoing, but Hurka disagreed with Option crews that a merger would make Baldwin residents less safe.

"The South Baldwin Volunteer Fire Company's No. 1 priority is the safety of Baldwin residents and the residents of neighboring communities whom we are called upon to assist," Hurka said. "We have always supported the prospect of a merger because we feel it would increase our ability to do the aforementioned."