Lick Hill Volunteer Fire Department no longer on Summit Township dispatch order
As of Jan. 1, Lick Hill Volunteer Fire Department will no longer be dispatched to emergencies, according to the Butler County emergency services director.
The action follows Summit Township supervisors questioning the fire department’s readiness to respond to emergencies and withholding state money from the department.
The supervisors voted unanimously Dec. 20 for Lick Hill Volunteer Fire Department to no longer be dispatched to calls in 2024, leaving Herman Volunteer Fire Company to pick up all the township’s calls.
According to Steve Bicehouse, Butler County emergency services director, municipalities are in charge of determining what departments respond to dispatch calls in their regions. The Butler County 911 Center obliged Summit Township’s request to remove the department as of Jan. 1.
“We have taken them out of service in the system, so in the computer's eyes, where Lick Hill would have been called, it will just be back filled,” he said. “It's just a matter of us back filling which station the municipality wants us to.”
Dave Berry, emergency management coordinator for Summit Township, said Lick Hill had been covering the area of the township north of Route 68, and Herman Volunteer Fire Company had been covering the route itself and the area south of it. Herman will now cover the entire township, and other departments will provide backup when necessary.
“Herman will be on response to all of them, but we'll have mutual aid from Butler city, East Butler and Oneida Valley,” said Berry, who is also a member of the Herman department. “We've got a number of people running. Manpower-wise, we're not hurting like other departments.”
Summit Township supervisor chairman Willie Adams said supervisors had asked Lick Hill administrators for various reports over the past year or so, including a member roster, an audit report and equipment inspection certifications. The township eventually received a member roster and audit report, but not certifications of equipment checks, leading the supervisors to withhold state aid money from Lick Hill.
Bryan Powell, Lick Hill fire chief, said the township had all the necessary paperwork on the equipment.
“They said the hose was not properly certified,” Powell said. “The hose was tested in ‘22, they had the report in ‘22. The hoses only need testing every three years.”
Adams said members of the department spoke to the supervisors at the Dec. 20 meeting, but they were unable to sway the board members’ opinions on the matter.
“We asked them to do certain things, and they just didn't do it,” Adams said. “We no longer want them to get calls in Summit Township.”
Powell disputes the townships claims and said his unit has met all the requirements put forth by the township.
“There were numerous false accusations made against the department,” Powell said. “The township would not let us debunk anything. We could not prove anything to the township.”
Powell said the department had asked Summit Township supervisors for funding to help pay for equipment testing in November. He also said rescue, engine and tanker trucks were tested in April, and he added that the township has a copy of the department’s pump testing results.
The Summit Township supervisors requested both Lick Hill and Herman fire departments submit an audit report to the township by Nov. 4.
“All the paperwork got turned it to the previous president, he knew everything,” Powell said. “He took every file we had that the township wanted and took it out of the fire hall and returned it after the audit.”
After a Nov. 15 meeting, supervisor Richard Green said Lick Hill’s audit raised questions about unauthorized spending.
An October 2023 report from the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General covering the Lick Hill Firemen’s Relief Association from Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2022, had two findings. The audit found the Lick Hill Firemen’s Relief Association had more than $4,000 in unauthorized expenditures from April 14, 2020, to Oct. 27, 2021, and about $2,400 in undocumented expenditures from Feb. 20, 2019, to Aug. 25, 2022.
Another volunteer fire department in Butler County previously shuttered its doors. Bicehouse said when Winfield Volunteer Fire Department closed in 2018, it left other departments nearby to cover its former region.
The Lick Hill Community Volunteer Fire Department and Relief Association was founded in 1969. The station is located at 122 McClellan Drive in Summit Township.
Powell said the department owns all of its own equipment. According to the department’s website, Lick Hill has a tanker truck, a rescue engine, a pumper truck and a brush truck.
He also said the township has not been supportive of Lick Hill Volunteer Fire Department over the years, and the department has held fundraisers to cover expenses.
Adams said the township is no longer providing Lick Hill with any funding, having most recently given the department $100 from the state Fire Relief Aid in November.
“Herman is going to step up,” he said. “With some help, the area should be covered every bit as well as it was before.”
Eagle staff writer Zach Petroff contributed to this report.
