HEGINS - Officers and members of Hegins Fire Company and Valley View Fire Company gathered May 22 at the Hegins Firehouse to sign documents that will merge both companies effective January 2015.
The officers and members had voted earlier in the month in favor to consolidate and merge operations.
Both companies have been in operation since the early 1900s, and after a long-anticipated journey, they have come to the agreement that it will not only improve their operations, it will also improve the community as a whole.
According to a press release issued by the companies, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has reviewed the statistics and said reducing the number of fire companies by merging in small towns such as Hegins and Valley View will benefit both companies, members and the community.
"After merging, the companies will have increased financial stability and asset management," Brian Musolino, president of Valley View Fire Company, said. "The state and federal grants will now be serving the companies as a whole so the availability to these services will benefit tremendously."
The costs of essential fire and emergency services are constantly rising and merging of the companies will result in better financial stability, according to the release.
The companies will consolidate all apparatus, equipment and training. After combining all emergency vehicles/apparatus and equipment, the company will have a total of six available apparatus for service. The merger will eliminate the need and extra cost for duplicated apparatus as well as two buildings.
"The companies will go from two buildings to one and two pumpers to one which will save hundreds of thousands of dollars over many years to come," Musolino said.
With a total of 30 volunteers, the company will have a better coordinated operation to better serve the community and efficiently respond to calls, Musolino added.
As of January 2015, the fire companies in Hegins and Valley View will be represented as Hegins Valley Fire-Rescue.
"Even though we would like to build a new building, that is not an option right now and will not be an option going into 2015," Musolino said. "Maybe five years down the road, maybe. Valley View and Hegins Fire Company will meet in June to start discussion on how we will be moving forward in 2015. During preliminary discussions we will be using the Hegins location as our primary station - station one as it is now - for emergency responses. The main goal is to consolidate equipment and buildings to be more effective as responders, save money and continue to advance our mission of providing better quality reliable fire protection for the residents of Hegins Township."
At the present time, the companies will report to their current station and remain open and continue operation as is.
Pfeiffer, Brown, DiNicola & Frantz law firm and attorney Gino DiNicola aided with the merger.