Why Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania is combining 6 volunteer fire companies under one entity

BENSALEM TWP., Pa. (WPVI) — After two years of planning, six independent Bensalem Township volunteer fire companies are expected to consolidate into one fire company.

“It will be one fire department, one set of standard operating procedures, one board of directors and one management team,” public safety director said , Williams McVey.

The Trevose, Cornwells, Eddington, Union, Newport and Nottingham fire stations will now be known as the Bensalem Singular Volunteer Fire Department. The administration's new leaders and officials were sworn in Monday evening at a special meeting, where commissioners gave unanimous approval.

Officials say the consolidation was necessary for many reasons, chief among them labor.

“The decline in staffing within each of our organizations has certainly been our biggest challenge to overcome,” said Andrew Hazlett, now president of the BVFD.

BVFD Deputy Fire Chief Ron Harris says the number of volunteers has declined locally and across the state. He said that in the 1970s, Pennsylvania had more than 300,000 volunteer firefighters. Today, that number is around 30,000.

“Failure to consolidate would result in a catastrophic incident involving destruction of property and, in a worst-case scenario, loss of life,” McVey said.

McVey said volunteers will still work in existing buildings and over time new signs and branding will appear on trucks and buildings. Officials also believe response times will improve.

“They will be able to bring all of these resources together to make sure that they can deploy fire trucks with properly trained personnel on board those trucks,” McVey said.

Aiden Goodson, 20, joined the Trevose Volunteer Fire Department in Bensalem last year, following in the footsteps of his uncle and grandfather. This is a common story of volunteers in any now independent fire company.

Goodson said many are proud of their service that spans generations with a particular fire company, but they have come together to improve the township.

Even with this reorganization, Goodson says the mission remains the same.

“There's nothing different about the guys coming to save you on your worst day. They're all always eager to help you with anything they can, in the best way possible,” Goodson said .

The reassurance is effective at 12 a.m. Tuesday.

The status of Bensalem's full-time paid firefighters is not affected.