When two become one, one year later: Pioneer and Independent fire companies successful as Jenkintown Fire Department

It has been almost one year since the Pioneer Fire Company No. 1 and the Independent Fire Company No. 2 united efforts as the Jenkintown Fire Department. Ken Lynch, the chief of the department and Jenkintown Borough fire marshal, said the merger of services has gone smoothly.

“It’s been going very well,” said Lynch. “Operationally, things continue to be mainstreamed for more efficient outcomes, but personel has taken to it well. Our training is more mainstream, and we’re able to provide a better service to maximize efficiency.”

Officially merging the two fire stations under one leadership team occurred on Nov. 1, 2023. Since that time, both have worked to mesh everything from officials and staffing to equipment and duties to effectively serve the borough of Jenkintown, not to mention offer mutual aid to surrounding municipalities of Abington and Cheltenham townships.

With a rich history, each station can also maintain its identity, giving the borough the best of both worlds. Pioneer Fire Company No. 1 was formed in 1884, with Independent Fire Company No. 2 organizing in 1889. With that much of a past, the loyalties run deep. As such, the two stations maintain their independence in different ways.

“To clarify, it is not a full merger,” Lynch explained. “What we ended up doing was called tactical consolidation. The operational control combines, but the two companies are independently chartered operations. Operational things like fire protect and services to borough, fall under one unified community.”

    Image courtesy of Pioneer Fire Co. No. 1
  

Lynch said that what began as a small discussion among a handful of volunteers, soon developed into this combining of efforts.

“This really started out as a small conversation with a couple of people just [speaking] on the sheer size as borough, the need to have the two as separate entities,” said the chief.

Though the concept of teamwork was nothing new.

“We really had been working as one,” Lynch said.

Once a borough study showed that their “hunch” was accurate, the official changes began to take form.

“The timing just appeared to be right to initiate a larger conversation with the members [of both stations],” said Lynch. “Most of them bought into it. Then, the borough had a study done, which kind of solidified everything we initially were talking about, as far as best practices.”

As the decision became clear, it came down to convincing the two teams that the option was the right one.

“Then it became about marketing,” said Lynch. “We had to sell to the membership what this would look like, how it would function, and the benefits for all.”

After more details emerged, the members became more and more in favor of the concept.

“We presented it, and the members voted in favor of it,” said Lynch.

Once the change was in place, many of the updates were realized by all involved from the get-go.

“Some of the changes we immediately noted were the reduction of overlapping officers,” said Lynch. “We were able to bring officers down and put them into more efficient roles. This continues to help going forward with the reduction of duplicated positions, duplicated equipment. Now everything is being done in a single line, as opposed to two stations purchasing things.”

While the necessity of change may have been what Lynch described as a “budget out of need and not want,” the bringing together of the stations has shown many benefits.

“We are able to mainstream purchases,” he said. “It gives us more purchasing power, because we are consolidating purchases in to one instead of multiple agencies buying the same things.”

    Image courtesy of Independence Fire Co. No. 2
  

Lynch said he has also seen the positives when it comes to training operations.

“Training has been great,” he said. “It helps to build the confidence, trust, and camaraderie between members. They work more efficiently together.”

Training has also seen improvements as, Lynch said, the volunteers are all able to cross-train on all apparatuses, and it is not a piece of equipment belonging to one station and not another.
“We have two separate buildings, but members have a capability to cross-train and cross-ride depending on the call type,” said the chief.

Both stations work with 100% volunteer efforts. There are no paid, full-time employees. Rather, the emergency response in the community relies on the dedication and hard work of the department.

As a call comes in, there are protocols for dispatching emergency response. Lynch said that most of the volunteer firefighters have an app on their phone which alerts them to calls.

“Whoever is available comes,” said Lynch. “You get to know who is around at what times. Everyone relies on mutual aid to accomplish the calls and do what needs to be done.”

Lynch said the app on firefighters’ phones alerts them to a call directly from the dispatch center. However, the borough still does have its historic sirens, which do still go off for a call.

Lynch said that technology has made things better and easier, allowing the department to locate volunteers more quickly, making it simpler to decide whether additional aid is needed, who may or may not be assisting in a call, and whether or not the team can handle the incident.

As they are all volunteers, not every firefighter can make every call.

“We all have day jobs,” said Lynch, who himself in addition to being the department’s fire chief is also an electrician by trade. “If a call comes in, there are times I am available and others I can’t stop what I am doing because it impacts others.”

Lynch said the department, an amalgamation of the two historic companies, is made up of “all different walks of life.”

“We have skilled contractors that are volunteers,” said Lynch. “We have skilled professionals. Doctors. Lawyers. Everybody’s in the same boat. If you work a day job, you can’t make daytime calls. But we have some maintenance personnel that can leave during the day. We rely on those people for daytime because others cannot leave work. Some family-run businesses here still permit employees to go [even during a shift], and we rely on that.”

While the combined efforts of the two units now amasses a team of 150 total members, 50 of which are active firefighting crew members, there is always room for more help.

“We’re always looking for volunteers to serve in various capacities,” said Lynch. “We have support personnel, administrative help. A lot of different aspects of this are like a business. We have an administrative side that handles fundraising and funding, period. And an operational side does the firefighting and other needs.

While the Jenkintown Fire Department itself is funded partially by the borough via a fire tax, they do also need to fundraise to make ends meet.

“We do fundraise. We do a letter drive each year, which we now do together,” said Lynch. “The taxes don’t cover everything, and we have limits on what we can and cannot spend tax dollars on.”

The combined Jenkintown Fire Department, consisting of two independent stations, serves the borough and surrounding communities by providing fire suppression, rescues, and prevention education all year-round. In addition to offering fire and rescue services, the department also sponsors the annual Jenkintown Fourth of July parade and celebrations.