As a group of volunteer firefighters from Muncy Township gathered Monday night to hear ServPro’s plan of action on the clean-up of their fire station following a sewage backup in mid-April, their frustration with the issue was evident.

“This is something that we shouldn’t have to be dealing with and I hope that we can come to a resolution here soon and get back into the fire station and move forward,” said Muncy Township Volunteer Fire Chief Scott Oldweiler.

One of the biggest concerns has been who will pay for the clean-up with the owners of the building, Muncy Township, saying as recently as last month’s supervisors’ meeting that the fire department was responsible and not them.

“As of right now, we’re just looking to clean it up. I don’t care who foots the bill at this point,” Nate Palmatier, president of the firemen’s group said.

Palmatier also announced that FAMvest, developers of the District at Lycoming Valley, had donated $10,000 toward the clean-up.

Oldweiler also noted that FAMvest is also working to help find a location for the fire department to store their equipment once ServPro has cleaned it.

In his presentation, ServPro General Manager Koby Printzenhoff told the firemen that his work at the firehouse must be done to certain standards related to professional water damage restoration, which is being classified as a category 3, and professional mold remediation. Category 3 is anything that has bacteria in it such as flood water, sewage or blood-borne pathogens, he explained.

“With that being said, anything I take out of the building, as soon as it is clean, it cannot go back in the building because it gets affected again,” Printzenhoff said.

“We are here to help and support our first responders. That’s the first and foremost thing. You guys help everybody else out, and we like to help you guys out,” he said.

Printzenhoff said that in the beginning of the process, the fire gear will be taken out of the firehouse in stages, cleaned and prepped so that it will be ready for the firemen to use.

“During the industrial hygienist going in and doing his scope of work and getting everything figured out for us, we had found that the fire gear was not affected, but the insurance company said that they are willing to have it cleaned,” he said, adding that it’s a liability issue on both the insurance company and ServPro.

The gear will be taken in sets of 10 to ServPro of Ebensburg, which is certified to clean the fire gear. Once the first set is done it will be stored away from the township building and made accessible to the firemen.

The EMS equipment and ambulance supplies which were contaminated will be inventoried and a claim filed and the insurance company will pay the fire company for those items.

“As far as other things go, like the hoses and everything, they will be taken and cleaned as well, and stored away…There is quite a bit of stuff inside that building,” Printzenhoff said.

“As far as the things such as the gym equipment, computers, things of that nature, that will come down the road. Our main focus is getting you guys ready and properly suited, so you can perform your tasks when needed,” he added.

In terms of a time frame for the process, Pritzenhoff said that he could start any time, but that sending the gear to Ebensberg to be cleaned is going to take a little bit of time because they “like to make sure it is clean.”

He said that to complete the cleaning of the contents could take three weeks or so, due to the amount of stuff inside.

Printzenhoff said that he would not comment on the damage to the building itself.

During the meeting, Pritzenhoff did say that there was microbial growth that had spread in the building due to the HVAC system running at the time of the sewage incident. When asked, following the meeting, if that would affect the air quality in the top floor, he indicated that the two areas are zoned so that the material would not reach the top floor.

The fire department is housed on the lower floor of the building and leases the space from the township. The Municipal Offices and meeting rooms occupy the top floor.

Pritzenhoff did not give an estimate of the cost for the entire remediation of the lower level of the township building but he indicated that the firemen have filed with their insurance for the clean-up of their gear and equipment and will be responsible only for the deductible at this time.

The issue with the township on who is liable for the damage to the building remains at a standstill at this point.

Pamatier said that his understanding was that the township had filed a claim with their insurance, but had subsequently canceled it. Emails are not being returned other than an email received from the township following an interview where fire officials had said they might seek different options for permanent locations.

“We got an email the other day that they wanted to know what we were doing downstairs and just basically they seemed concerned. So that was hopefully a light at the end of the tunnel that they were going to do the right thing and help us and get everything cleaned up, but other than that there hasn’t been much communication,” Palmatier said.

Although ultimately they hope to see the issue resolved and the building cleaned up, fire officials are meeting with FAMvest to discuss a temporary location for the fire department at the former mall complex. The space formerly occupied by Sears is being considered as a possible site, Palmatier said.