Bellevue Borough Council votes to decertify volunteer fire department

BELLEVUE, Pa. (KDKA) -- The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire is now handling calls coming out of Bellevue after the borough's council voted to decertify their volunteer fire department.

Council voted to decertify Columbia Hose, Hook, and Ladder Company, which is known as the borough's volunteer department. Firefighters from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire will now provide automatic aid to the borough at no cost.

Council sent a letter to residents saying the Bellevue Fire Department has three career and three part-time firefighters, and the Columbia Hose, Hook, and Ladder members are volunteers.

The volunteers say they received no warning before the meeting.

"We saw an item on the agenda for 'future of fire services' and nobody knew what that meant, and we couldn't get an answer. We were completely blindsided by a motion that was not advertised and not on an agenda at all," said Glenn Pritchard, the former fire chief of Bellevue Volunteer Fire Company.

Council says that Bellevue has a unique hybrid setup because the Fire Chief is also a volunteer, meaning that paid firefighters take direction from the volunteer chief. Council says this can pose significant complications as the career firefighters generally have more training and certification than volunteers.

"It's a tragedy, I got to tell our residents, 'when you call 911 tonight and the girls and guys who showed up for years and years and saved lives and saved property, we're not coming and it wasn't up to us,'" Pritchard said.

The borough had two studies completed and the report noted that it's apparent that the delivery of fire services is not keeping with progressive fire department management techniques or efficient fire service protection.

The report noted, "it is apparent and visible that the delivery of fire services, including assignment of responsibility, liability exposure, apparatus maintenance, departmental control and answerability is not in keeping with progressive fire department management techniques or efficient fire service protection as related to the existing delivery of fire and emergency services in the borough of Bellevue."

Council says the issues have been intensified by the declining number of volunteer firefighters.

The president of the Columbia Hose, Hook, and Ladder #1, Heidi Cummings, tells KDKA that the paid and volunteer firefighters work seamlessly together on emergency services.

Cummings says the decision made by council puts families at risk.

Council says the borough's paid firefighters will respond to non-structure fire incidents. If there is a structure fire, Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire will respond from mostly their station in Brighton Heights.

"It's unsustainable to rely on the city of Pittsburgh, it's going to take longer for their firefighters to get here to Bellevue, so you've decreased safety and ultimately going to increase costs," said Joseph Scioscia, treasurer of Bellevue Borough.

Two council members voted no to the motion to de-certify the volunteer fire company. 

"They pulled it out at the last minute. I'm sure what they did was technically legal, but it was despicable because they are compromising the safety of everyone in the town," Scioscia said.

Pritchard said he became the fire chief a few months ago and that he has been reaching out to the borough for a long time to try new things, but they have not been willing to listen. The former chief is incredibly frustrated and disappointed they can't be there for their community anymore.

"This isn't necessarily an irreversible decision but the damage to the volunteer morale and what we're now thinking the borough thinks of us, it cuts deep," said Pritchard.

Cummings sent a statement that said, "What most citizens of Bellevue probably don't realize, is that the Borough of Bellevue also has 2 full-time (formerly 3) firemen that make up the Bellevue Fire Department. In a 24-hour period, the fireman for the boroughs' fire department is responsible for driving and operating 108 engine, the primary fire suppression apparatus for the borough. All other emergencies - vehicle rescue, medical, fire suppression and rescue, mutual aid emergencies in other communities- are responses attended to by the volunteers of Columbia Hose, Hook and Ladder #1. So, if you see more than just one fireman and one engine on an emergency scene- every other vehicle and responder is a volunteer. The paid driver and our volunteers work seamlessly together on emergency scenes."

"We are reeling. We are completely numb. You want to see big tough men break down and cry? Come swing on by our firehouse. We are volunteers. We work HARD. For nothing," Cummings also said.