After being slapped with the worst possible fire insurance score in July, the Strawpump fire department in North Huntingdon has added members and continues to respond to calls as it works to regain an acceptable rating, the department’s new chief said.
Township commissioners in November approved a plan from the North Huntingdon fire chiefs to divide Strawpump’s primary territory between two neighboring departments: Westmoreland City and Fairmont-Hahntown. The fire chiefs arrived at that solution after Strawpump’s fire protection rating fell last year from a 5 to a 10, and some residents complained their homeowner’s insurance rates rose and some insurers threatened to not renew their policies.
Strawpump, one of seven volunteer fire departments in North Huntingdon, is opposed to any efforts to have the township remove its charter and close the department, which was founded in 1949, said Ryan Senica, who was elected chief in January. Removing the charter would be the wrong answer to the problem of the low fire insurance rating, he added.
“Closing our department will have a negative impact on the areas we serve,” Senica said.
The fire hall is just 700 feet from Route 30 at the eastern end of the township. Its coverage area contains about 925 households, said Chuck Wolf, department treasurer.
The department answered all of its calls in February and has been answering the calls since the lower rating was issued last summer, said Lindsey Dawson, Strawpump assistant fire chief.
“We never did not answer a call,” Dawson said.
Wolf agreed.
“It did not change how we responded to the calls,” he said.
Senica said an auditor told him that the fire protection rating was lowered because the department did not submit the needed documentation that firefighters had undergone required annual training. Those training hours are being documented, he said.
“I’m feeling good about it,” Senica said, adding that members of the department are undergoing training and should have the required hours of annual training completed this summer for the insurance ratings.
New ratings typically take 90 days to go into effect after a new score is published, said Morgan Hurley, a spokeswoman for Verisk Analytics Inc., the parent corporation of Insurance Services Office, the company that determines a department’s fire suppression rating.
Fifty percent of the rating is based on the fire department’s equipment, staffing, training and automatic aid. Another 40% is based on the adequacy of the water supply available from hydrants, the availability of alternative water sources and the volume and pressure compared to the amount needed to suppress fires. The remaining 10% is based on the 911 phone system, the adequacy of telephone lines, operator supervision and dispatching technology.
Addressing the staffing component, Strawpump is slowly expanding, adding about three or four members recently, to its complement of about 27 members. The department has about 20 active members, Senica said.
A lack of volunteer firefighters, however, is a problem plaguing departments throughout the region, Dawson said.
Township commissioners are taking a “wait and see what happens” approach with the department’s efforts to raise its rating to a satisfactory range, said township manager Harry Faulk.
Senica presented the department’s plans to Faulk, assistant manager Ryan Fonzi and Commissioners Tom Hempel and Jason Atwood.
Hempel, whose 1st Ward encompasses the Strawpump, Westmoreland City and Fairmont-Hahntown fire departments, said if the department fulfills its plan, it can be strong again.
“We hope they do. Time will tell,” Hempel said.
Said Faulk: “The commissioners may decide to give them their area (service territory) back.”