Towamensing Township hosted a meeting of the fire chiefs and other members of Towamensing Township Volunteer Fire Co., as well as the chiefs and members from Franklin, Polk, and Aquashicola volunteer fire companies. The four companies meet every six months to assess the situation with Towamensing.

Back in 2019, Towamensing Township Supervisors enlisted the help of Franklin, Polk and Aquashicola fire companies to help in answering emergency calls in Towamensing. As current supervisor John Kleintop pointed out, Towamensing was facing a very difficult time.

“We had very low membership, very few volunteers, very low numbers on both sides that could fight fires or drive vehicles. For training, we only had a few classes and a few people showing up.”

“From what I’ve seen,” Kleintop continued, “our fire department has done a 360-degree turn from where it was. As I see the direction where we’ve gone over the past few years; from what I understand, our training levels have increased tenfold.”

Towamensing Chief Ryan A. Snyder praised the volunteers.

“It’s not me, it’s these guys in the third row. They’re the ones putting in the effort, they’re the ones getting out the door. We’re just the ones steering them in the right direction.”

Lynn Diehl, fire chief for Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Co., agreed.

“I feel they came a long way. They’re doing a good job, getting your guys out for calls. Still having issues during the day; we all do, though, sometimes. But, they’re doing a good job. The training has definitely come a long way. We got together with them the other night; we did some car fires and stuff. It went very well; we worked well together.”

The main issue they discussed is to update the run cards that the Carbon County dispatchers use to determine who gets called to a particular emergency call.

Now that Towamensing has made significant improvements, it was suggested that some of the other departments can cut down on some of the calls they answer for Towamensing.

“We’re willing to stay on long enough for Ryan (Snyder) and his crew to create their own run cards,” Polk Township fire Chief Billy Tippett said.

“And we’re more than willing to be on those run cards, whatever you need from us; but, we no longer want to be the primary coverage in your township.”

Aquashicola Fire Chief William H. George said, “We would like to update the run cards, take people off certain things. But, as we said from day one; if you need our help, we’ll help.”

The four fire chiefs will work together to decide how the run cards should be updated and will present them to Carbon County Dispatch.

They expect to have them ready within the next week or two.