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A new fire services agreement approved Thursday by Williamsport City Council is expected to ease overtime hours in Williamsport Bureau of Fire and give nearby Nisbet Fire Co. the added manpower needed during major working emergencies such as structure fires, nasty vehicle accidents involving extrication and mass casualty incidents.
Council approved an intermunicipal agreement between the city fire department, Old Lycoming Township, Old Lycoming Township Fire Co., Susquehanna Township and Nisbet Fire Co. as presented by city Chief Sam Aungst.
The city has an existing agreement or an alliance, which has been in place since 1999 with Old Lycoming Township to provide two paid city firefighters to be stationed at Old Lycoming Township Fire Co. on Dewey Avenue. They respond on Engine 14-1. In this agreement, which is scheduled to be voted on Wednesday by Susquehanna Township supervisors, the terms would be for Nisbet Fire company to pay $600 to the city for backbills when it responds for three hours to Nisbet Fire Co. major incidents.
The terms indicate $450 would go to the city and $150 would go to Old Lycoming Township Fire Co. for use of the truck, Aungst said. This would be for a three-hour period for back bills. If the Nisbet Fire Co. officials instruct the city that a working incident is actually not one and is recalled there would be no charge assessed, the chief said.
City Council President Adam Yoder said he was expecting a higher cost for the city to respond.
Aungst replied how that would be $50 per firefighter who was coming in off-duty. They would work for three hours.
The $150 is for the use of the fire apparatus and the $450 covers the back bill, he said. Sometimes, the equipment will be Engine 14-1 and other times it will be a city engine.
"It is a great idea," Yoder said, expressing how a number of the council and administration have been looking at regionalization of services for a while.
With that size of a service area across the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, anticipated amount of times the city firefighters will be called to respond is not likely to be more than one to three times a year, officials said.
Nisbet Fire Chief James Pfleegor II apparently told Aungst he welcomed the agreement to provide that option for the smaller volunteer fire company.