ALS Adds New Function to Pennsylvania Fire Department

The Kirwan Heights Volunteer Fire Department has reinvented itself, and Collier residents are the beneficiaries.

The department, which responded to 564 EMS calls and 168 fire calls in 2005, began operating its own round-the-clock advanced life support system in mid-December with a paid staff of nine paramedics. It is the only Collier volunteer fire company with ALS certification.

"We're unique. We're the only EMS-staffed fire department in the South Hills," said Joe Wissel, 24, of Scott, a fire department lieutenant and EMS operations manager.

"Some others may be in the same building, but they are not one entity," added Jordan Fascetti, 19, of Collier.

Fire department assistant chief and president Mark Lewis, agreed.

"A lot of these guys can go to a fire as well as answer EMS calls. They're dual function," he said, adding that members Mr. Wissel and Mr. Fascetti are typical of the many bright and enthusiastic people in the 18-to-25-year-old range who have joined Kirwan Heights in recent years.

Located at the corner of Washington Pike and Vanadium Road, the department covers three shopping centers, numerous businesses and three Chartiers Valley School District buildings.

Members say 98 percent of their calls are from the area's businesses and shopping centers or from nonresidents involved in accidents, particularly on fast-moving roads like Washington Pike and Interstate 79.

The fire department was organized in 1926 as a mill fire brigade by a few employees at Vanadium Steel Mill, now known as Universal Steel & Alloy Products, Inc., which employed 5,000 persons. Six years later, the department constructed its current home. In those days, its membership roster included much of the Kirwan Heights community.

"Everybody belonged. It was easier in Kirwan Heights to tell you who was a member than who wasn't," said Mr. Lewis, whose father and grandfather were volunteer firefighters, too.

But as the last century came to a close, the fire department was down to seven members who just couldn't keep up.

"If it wasn't for Southbridge and the Presto Volunteer Fire Department [to answer our ambulance and fire calls], this place would probably be gone," Mr. Lewis said.

He and fire Chief Bill Lacey, who led the fire department in the 1970s and 1980s, were asked by the remaining members to figure out how to breathe new life into the organization. The results of their efforts are obvious.

Today, the fire department has a membership of 45 persons from areas as far away as Moon and Washington County, an expanded and renovated building, and a side driveway/parking area installed by Collier's public works employees with the township commissioners' blessing.

The top-to-bottom renovation took place in 2003 at a cost of $70,000. Members did the work themselves. With a capital outlay of $400, the volunteers restarted a basic life support EMS service in June 2004. Southbridge aided the department by providing a paramedic.

Now the service has been upgraded to advanced life support, which required additional training and certification.

Three department officers listed their own homes as collateral to get a credit line for the ambulance service.

What makes the fire department's turnaround even more impressive is that much of it was done with few tax dollars.

Collier had been providing $25,000 annually to each of its three volunteer fire companies until 2005, when that amount was increased to $35,000. For 2006, each of the township's three fire departments will receive $45,000.

"Basically, Collier Township got a paid fire department for nothing," said Mr. Lewis, who pointed out the fire department even pays for its own insurance out of its annual $180,000 operating budget. He also noted the department paid $15,000 for a township-owned traffic control signal so that its emergency vehicles can get out of its traffic-congested location.

"If we get a call about a car accident on Interstate 79 with people trapped inside, we can't wait for the traffic to clear so we can get out," Mr. Lewis said.

Though the nonprofit fire department does do some fund raising, it cannot hold bingos or rent out space for wedding receptions and parties because it lacks sufficient parking space.

Aside from the township's annual contribution, the department relies on resident subscriptions, donations, grants, and insurance payments from ambulance runs for its operating money.

But members are committed to operating a community-oriented service while keeping an eye to the future. A used ladder truck is on their wish list.

Among the department's goals for 2006 are the addition of a second wheelchair van, as well as providing a class in fire extinguisher use and CPR/first aid to businesses and residents. Members also want to send two people to school for car-seat training.

To contact the Kirwan Heights Volunteer Fire Department by phone, dial 412-221-8382, or visit its Web site website at: www.kirwanvfd.com.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.