Dozens turned out for Tuesday’s Tamaqua Borough Council meeting to show their support for the East End Fire Company, which council suspended from service last month.

Despite the turnout — and several requests to table a decision on decertifying the volunteer company — council voted unanimously to remove it from service, citing inadequate staffing, failure to maintain proper records and other deficiencies.

Coverage now lies with the borough’s American Hose Company No. 1, Citizens Fire Company and South Ward Fire Company.

“This action comes strictly as a safety and liability issue to protect the borough, its residents and its firefighters,” Council President Brian Connely said, reading a prepared statement before the vote.

According to Connely, the call was made after almost two years of meetings between council’s Public Safety Committee and borough fire department chiefs and officers. Despite working with the East End’s past and present chiefs and presidents, Brian Connely said a “positive outcome” was not reached.

Explaining the decision, he noted that the East End did not appoint a fire chief who meets requirements set by a borough ordinance and had improperly trained response personnel.

In addition, Brian Connely said, East End had an inadequate number of personnel to staff equipment and failed to maintain accurate training and equipment records and Insurance Services Office (ISO) documentation.

He also explained that the fire company lacked responses to borough incidents — and when it did show up, poor response times were recorded.

“We realize that times have changed in the fire service and there are now many more requirements and mandates that a fire company needs to meet and maintain,” Brian Connely said. “This action is not a reflection of the men and women of the East End Fire Company who do so many good things that are not fire response-related for our communities.”

He added that the “remaining” three volunteer fire companies all met and exceeded the requirements not reached by East End.

“The borough has no intention, I repeat, no intention, of taking the building, equipment or assets of the East End Fire Company and stands ready to assist the East End Fire Company with any future business plans and any transaction that does not involve a fire response component,” Brian Connely said.

All borough appropriations to the fire company will be divided among the remaining borough emergency services.

“The borough will continue to work and support our emergency services to provide the best response to our residents and the rest of the emergency services community,” Brian Connely said.

At last month’s meeting, council voted to suspend the fire company as of March 18 and begin the decertification process for “emergency” reasons.

At the time, borough fire Chief James Connely explained the decision was made because of the company’s “poor” response to emergency calls. He estimated that the volunteers were responding to less than 25% of calls.

At Tuesday’s meeting, East End members said the percentage estimates were incorrect.

James Connely presented figures he obtained from the Schuylkill County Emergency Management Agency. Since 2023 when the fire company made 37% of its calls, he said, response times have been dropping from year to year with only about a 20% response rate in the first two months of 2026.

“Basically, it went downhill,” he said.

James Connely said he contacted the East End Fire Company about the deficiencies in June 2024 and heard back from an attorney.

“We’ve been after this for two years or more, trying to get their response times up,” he said. “But nothing has come about.”

Resident Wayne Schickram asked council to pause on its vote.

“I am asking council to maybe table this for a little bit. You now have the people here in this room that you can probably talk to and ask and set up meetings so that maybe we can get this problem resolved. Because I think all of us in this room can say that if the East End Fire Company (is suspended), we’re all going to be hurting. It’s not for the best of the community,” Schickram said.

Bob Boyle, 89, said he volunteered for 69 years with the East End Fire Company, which he said is more than a century old.

“It’s not just history. It’s generations of people showing up in the worst moments to help someone in a fire or a flood or whatever it was, Boyle said. “We tried to do our best. We’re still trying to do our best even though you are down on us a little bit.”

He said that through his years of service, he has seen many fire companies both “up” and “down.”

“We are working to be better because it’s what we do,” Boyle said. “And make no mistake we are not done. We will keep serving this community of Tamaqua and all the surrounding areas with or without your recognition and in time people will see what it means to us.”

Chris Miller, a social member of the fire company, asked whether the borough had records of how it tried to help the East End.

“Nobody wants to see anybody close their doors,” assistant borough fire Chief Mark Bower said. “None of us went into this to do that.”

Bower noted that meetings were held with the East End’s last chief and captain.

“They took the fortitude to go forward and they tried,” Bower said.

Since then, he said, the fire company hasn’t been responsive.

“Whatever happened out there internally, I don’t know that,” Bower said.

Another resident, Lauren Schock, also asked that the matter be tabled.

“Give them time to turn it around,” she suggested.

Jackie Richardson, Tamaqua, asked that the borough give the East End another chance to prove itself.

Member Michelle McCarroll said that the East End did make some mistakes.

“But does the punishment fit the crime?,” she asked.