Keeping costs down and recruiting more volunteers are continued goals for the Franklin Park Volunteer Fire Company as it reviews last year’s successes and challenges.
Celebrating its 104th year in 2026, the Franklin Park department had one of its busiest years in 2025, responding to 347 calls, compared to 293 the previous year, as noted on its website at franklinparkvfc158.org.
“We were busy last year,” Fire Chief Bill Chicots said. “That’s our second-highest in history. Our highest was 350.”
Chicots and Jim Niggel, the fire company’s president, provided an update on last year’s activities to Franklin Park Council during its March 4 meeting.
The fire department covers more than 15 square miles of the borough with a team of 65 volunteers, 27 of whom are active firefighters. But they could always use more helping hands.
“We can always use more members to bolster our response numbers,” said Chicots, who has been chief for 10 years.
Franklin Park has a population of about 15,000 residents, according to the borough website at franklinparkborough.us.
The fire company also has nine fire police and three junior firefighters, the latter of which can join at age 14.
The station received 19 calls in a four-hour period last April, during the major storm that caused damages and widespread power outages throughout Allegheny County.
There were a total of 28 fire calls last year involving flames or smoke.
Their biggest “pain” is false alarm calls, Chicots said.
As emergency calls seem to be going up every year, so do the costs.
“We try to be fiscally responsible as much as we can,” he said.
When they needed to replace a fire police truck last year, the fire company found a used model with only 11,000 miles in New York at more than half the cost of a new one, Chicots said. They had budgeted $150,000 for a replacement and paid $120,000 for the used truck.
However, prices have steadily climbed. In 2020, tires cost $483 each. The cost is now at $900 each at the state-contracted price. Truck inspections also are more expensive, along with repairs, Chicots said.
“We are getting hammered on the cost of things,” he said.
Their ladder truck, nearing 30 years old, is likely going to need heavy maintenance within the next two years, he said.
Residents can check their mailboxes this summer for the annual Ingomar Volunteer Fire Company fund drive, which also helps fund the Franklin Park Volunteer Fire Company.
In the 2025 fund drive, 19% of households responded out of approximately 5,700 addresses, raising an estimated $109,000, Chicots said. This was an approximate $3,000 increase over the previous year.
A QR code to directly support the station was included in the last mailing, which Chicots said may have resulted in the rise in donations. Donations to the nonprofit are tax deductible.
Chicots would like to see a response rate of closer to 40% this year.
Franklin Park’s 2026 borough budget included $149,000 to the volunteer fire company for general operating expenses, according to the budget document at franklinparkborough.us. This is under the borough’s Fire Fund, which was established in 2016 and includes other fire-related expenses throughout the municipality.
No major projects are anticipated, but a fire company committee is studying the substation on Route 910 for maintenance needs, such as possible roof repairs and updating its security system, Niggel said.
Niggel, a Franklin Park native who has been a firefighter there for 24 years, said it’s important to get the word out that they are an all-volunteer company.
“I’m not sure this whole (borough) knows we’re volunteer. I don’t think they realized they can come do this,” Niggel said.
Prospective volunteers, or just curious residents, can attend the fire company’s annual Firefighter for a Day event at its station along Rochester Road. The event gives the public a chance to experience what it’s like to be a firefighter. This includes wearing full fire safety gear, using rescue tools, practicing fire hose operations and more.
The event teams up with other fire departments and first responders in the area. The date for 2026 has not been finalized, but Chicots anticipates it will be held in mid- or late September. For details and to register, visit firefighterforaday.com.
There are different levels of volunteering outside of active firefighting, such as in accounting, administration or driving an emergency vehicle, Niggel said. They also are in need of fire police to help direct traffic at an emergency scene. Directing traffice only requires about 15 hours of training, Niggel said.
Niggel’s son, James, joined the Franklin Park company at 14 through its junior firefighter program. His daughter, Madison, also is a member, taking advantage of the FIREVEST program as she studies nursing at the Community College of Allegheny County.
The Allegheny County FIREVEST program offers full scholarships for an associate degree or certificate program at CCAC, as well as training at the Allegheny County Fire Academy.
Additionally, the North Allegheny School District supports students who attend a fire service training program by allowing them flexibility with their schedule, including preapproved release time, according to district spokesperson Randy Gore.
While not currently in their program of studies, the district is working on ways to integrate the opportunity into a curricular department, Gore said.
The idea for a Franklin Park volunteer fire department was sparked in the 1920s when concerned citizens met after two farmhouses in the area burned down. Eighteen families donated $50 each to start a fire department, Chicots said.
The charter for Ingomar Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 of Franklin Township was formed in 1922. In 1961, when Franklin Township became Franklin Park Borough, the fire company was renamed Franklin Park Volunteer Fire Company No. 1.
Property for the first fire house was acquired in 1924 across from the location of the current main station along Rochester Road, the latter of which replaced a 1950s-era station at that same property. The current house was completed in 2017.
Chicots and Niggel also took the time at the meeting to remind council members and the public about the importance of checking their carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.
Smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years and carbon monoxide every seven. Each should have an expiration date on the device, Chicots said.
Niggel talked about a recent call regarding a carbon monoxide alarm.
“They would have been dead in the morning. I bought new ones in my house after hearing that,” Niggel said.
To learn more about the Franklin Park Volunteer Fire Company, visit franklinparkVFC158.org.