Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission praises industry for assistance
By Jim Panyard | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s shrinking volunteer fire companies and associated emergency responders are increasingly unable to deal with new demands placed on them by the state’s booming natural gas industry, according to statements made to a study group formed by Gov. Tom Corbett.
The Local Impact and Emergency Response Work Group, part of Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, heard concerns from county leaders and state officials in its first meeting Wednesday.
While about 75 percent of all fire companies nationally are volunteer, that number is 95 percent in Pennsylvania, according to state Fire Commissioner Ed Mann.
The volunteer companies are having serious recruitment and funding difficulties, Mann said.
In 1970 there were about 300,000 volunteer firefighters in the state, but that number has slipped to only about 70,000 today, according to recent studies, Mann said.
“I think that number is actually closer to 50,000,” Mann said Wednesday.
Pennsylvania has more than 2,300 volunteer fire companies.
Volunteer fire company membership is no longer a normal community activity in Pennsylvania and bingo games, barbecued chicken sales and raffles can no longer supply the funds they need, Mann said.
“We don’t have a lot to offer a young person who comes through the door (to join a volunteer fire company) in terms of benefits,” Mann said.
It has been difficult to fund basic training of fire companies in normal times but with the special training needed for natural gas incidents, Mann said the situation is becoming even more difficult.
“There is no state law that requires any minimum level of fire training in Pennsylvania,” Mann said, adding that the burden of fire protection rests with local and county governments.
Mann praised the gas industry and its lobby, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, for funding $216,000 for specialized training and for working closely with communities across the state. There was not a single criticism of the industry during the meeting.
But, Mann said there are too many volunteer fire companies in the state and some plan needs to be devised to make company mergers attractive.
Glenn Cannon, director of the state’s Emergency Management Agency, and chair of the working group, read the results of a survey listing some of the problems facing emergency dispatchers and local government. Ranging from an influx of new workers for gas operations to increased criminal activity to heavier truck traffic, Cannon said there are a number of issues to be addressed by the work group before it reports back to Corbett in July.
Many dispatchers and volunteer firefighters have taken full-time positions with gas companies operating in their regions and are no longer available to handle local incidents, Cannon said.
Cannon and Mann agreed that no fire company in the state is equipped to deal with a major gas or oil fire. In that event, private specialty firefighting firms would have to be brought in from Texas to properly quell the blaze, they said.
The question of Pennsylvania’s poor roads and highways, particularly in rural areas where the majority of gas drilling is occurring, could be a major stumbling block in addressing emergency situations, said David M. Sanko, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors.
Sanko also pointed out the need for satellite telephone communications, since cell phone reception in many rural areas is poor or nonexistent.
Sanko also said he believes there needs to be “greater oversight” of where gas pipelines are placed, but said he did not know if that would be a state of federal responsibility.
