Jim Thorpe Borough Council voted Thursday to draft changes to its fire department ordinance, including allowing line officers and the fire chief to live up to 5 miles outside borough limits and creating two new deputy chief positions.

“Previously, we had a lack of candidates for the chief position, and the only person interested was from outside the borough,” Councilwoman Sydney Wernett, who chairs the emergency services committee, said. “Going forward, we want to be proactive in preventing that situation from happening again, especially since it’s such a critical role in the borough.”

The chief position became open after Vince Yaich Sr. tendered his resignation on May 28. According to council members, the position was posted and only Charles Sgrillo, a retired Philadelphia firefighter who now lives in Penn Forest Township, applied. Last week, Council President Greg Strubinger said two additional applications had come in since that point. The applicants were Vince Yaich Jr. and Chuck DeHaven.

Currently, Jim Thorpe’s ordinance requires line officers and the fire chief to live in the borough.

“The whole point of the residency requirement was to ensure the chief would be nearby and able to handle emergencies,” Solicitor Jim Nanovic told council on Thursday. “Would that still be accomplished if the person lived within a certain radius? Probably. This change doesn’t mean you have to appoint someone from outside; it just gives you the ability to do so.”

Yaich Jr. questioned the proposal, noting that two line officers had to give up their positions when they moved out of town for personal reasons.

“Now you want to make changes for someone who lives out of town,” Yaich Jr. said. “Remember that if someone gets killed in a house fire because the chief lives outside the borough. You’re playing with fire, and it’s going to come back and get you.”

Wernett responded, “No one said this is directed at anyone living out of town. We simply didn’t have anyone interested except for an individual from outside the borough.”

Councilwoman Joanne Klitsch voted yes to the ordinance amendment draft but acknowledged the timing looked bad.

“I understand what you’re trying to do,” she said to her colleagues on council. “If it can bring in other firefighters, that would be a good reason. We’ll see.”

The motion to draft the amendment to extend the residency limits beyond borough lines passed 5-2 with Connor Rodgers and Ted LaRizzio voting no.

“Rather than amending the residency requirements or additional deputies, the focus should be placed on finding a fire chief who can unite the two companies, strengthen recruitment and shape our department into the leading fire service in the county,” Rodgers said. “Borough Council and the emergency services committee must also improve communication with the department to implement these changes.”

Strubinger said Yaich Jr.’s point about previous line officers who had to give up their positions is a prime reason why a change is being made.

“We can’t afford to lose volunteers,” Strubinger said. “We lost people because of the ordinance that requires officers to live in the borough, and now this takes care of that. This isn’t being done for any other sort of purpose.”

After the residency vote, council considered creating two additional deputy chief positions.

“The intent is to give the fire chief two deputy chiefs to fulfill positions of safety and training and another qualified individual on the front line for a fire,” Councilman Mike Yeastedt said. “The current deputy chief (Bill Diehm) would still carry on the duties that he has today … the administrative duties, the fundraising, the fire prevention … and even the fires that he comes out to.”

Wernett added, “The hope in adding deputy chiefs is to have them eventually take over the fire department. There are a lot of older firefighters now, and at some point, they won’t be around. Hopefully, this can help bring in younger members to assist the fire company.”

The motion to add two deputy chiefs passed 6–1. Rodgers cast the lone no vote.