Franklintown Borough York County, PA

555 Chestnut Grove Rd.

Dillsburg PA 17019

Phone:  717-432-3317 during the day

For Non-Emergencies that require the Police  call  York County Non-Emergency 

Number 717-854-5571

There is a Free Medication Return Box in the Lobby. Remember to remove identifying info before depositing.  

Phone:  717-638-8042

readynorthernyork@gmail.com

Free assistance with Emergency Plans

Shelter or Comfort Station Coordination

Comfort Station:  A designated location available during daytime hours to individuals who do not have heat when it is cold or Air Conditioning when it's hot.  

Office:  431 N. 21st St, Ste 101

Camp Hille PA 17011

Phone 717-763-2108

Memberships:

23 Old Depot Rd

New Cumberland PA 17070

Memberships are available, and covers copayments and 50% of your deductible.

They are $100.00 for Family or $85.00 for individual.

They run April 1st to March 31st, 

click the link below.  

Effective July 1, 2021

our primary Fire Service Provider is

Wellsville Fire Company
95 Community Street
Wellsville, PA 17365 

 Non-Emergency: 717-432-5428 

 E-mail: info@wellsvillefire.com 

County Wide Incidents

In the state of PA, each Municipality is responsible for providing it's residents with Emergency Protection.  

Municipalities are subject to required audits and some accounts are audited multiple times by multiple agencies.  The individuals who are controlling the funds are requried to be be bonded, which protects the municipality.  

Volunteer Fire Departments are seeking funding from Municipalities more and more, but they are not subject to the same checks and balances.  This is an increasingly difficult issue for Municipalities.  Some choose to only pay bills presented to them, some agreements between Municipalities and Volunteer Fire Companies include stipulations and certifications regarding the spending of the funds.  However, it is up to the Municipality to verify this and take action if they find the fire company is not handling funds per the agreement.  Fire Companies are not subject to the same rules as Municipalities.

Volunteer Fire Deparments are not subject to required audits in the State of Pennsylvania with the exception of Fireman's Relief/Forgeign Fire Insurance funds.  

Volunteer Fire Departments are not subject to The Sunshine Act/Right to Know in the majority of the State of PA.  York County is one f the county's where Fire company's are not subject to it.  This means they are not required to provide any information regarding finances, management, etc. upon request.  

Their meetings are not required to be open to the public. 

Volunteer Fire Departments are governed by their individual By-Laws and their members. If their by-laws are not followed then their membership are who would police that.  If the membership doesn't want to get involved or rock the boat there is nobody else who will.   

Are the individuals in charge good at administration?  What are their personal financial situations?  (They are not requred to complete Financial Interst Statements like those assocaited with Municipalities are.) Are they requred to be bonded?  Are 2 signatures requred?  Is the general membership involved in financial decisions?  Are they given all of the information to acurately assess the actual financial situation of the Fire Department?  Are the Municipalities who are experienced in managing public funds given this information?  

This is a tax placed on insurance companies located outside of the State of PA that provide insurance inside the state of PA.  This money is divided up by population and distributed to the Municipality annually, and they are required to further distribute the money's to the Fire Department/s of their choosing.  

The Fire Companies must keep these monies in separate funds and they can only be spent on certain things, generally safety gear for the firefighters.  This is the only money that is subject to an Audit for Fire Departments by the State of PA and it is conducted by the PA Auditor General's Office. 

Equipment

Helmet - $350.00

Hood - $32.00

Coat - $1400.00

Pants - $1200.00

Boots - $495.00

Gloves - $125.00

Airpack - $6700.00

Total:  $10,302.00

The replacement of these items is subject to various factors.  How many calls is the fire fighter attending, what jobs are they doing on the calls, etc.  

Does the fire company have a replacement policy based on timeframe or condition of equipment or both?  

Items such as airpacks are regulated for how long they can be used for.  

If the company bought a large quantity at one time instead of staggering purchases there could be large lump sum replacement costs at recurring intervals.  

 In emergency services, mutual aid is an agreement among emergency responders to lend assistance across jurisdictional boundaries. This may occur due to an emergency response that exceeds local resources, such as a disaster or a multiple-alarm fire. Mutual aid may be ad hoc, requested only when such an emergency occurs. 

When a company has holes in its volunteer coverage other neighboring companies are dispatched.  There isn't an obligatory monetary exchange for this.  Some Municipalities may recognize this and choose to fund more than one Fire Company. 

Some Municipalities are questioning why the department they are funding is serving outside of their area so frequently and how to address it.  

Training is driven by insurance mostly.  Gone are the days when a volunteer can be trained by their fellow members or chief at the station as time allows and ride along to watch how a call is worked before being able to help little by little.  

Each Volunteer organization has to set their minimum required training for each job and this is also dictated by what the insurance company will cover.  

Volunteers can be required to complete hours of training that takes them away from their family.  If you worked a fulltime job and had 2 weeks vacation would you use it all to train to be a firefighter?  

How much do Fire Trucks cost? 

What do they come with?  What do you have to add?  

How long do they hold their value? 

At what age are they no longer insurable? 

Who decides what type of trucks are purchased?  

Are they purchasing trucks appropriate for the area being served?  Are they going for the newest technology?  

Are they paying attention to the size of the trucks and the areas they need to go?  Rural mountainous areas?  New developments with narrower streets or concrete medians separating lanes?  

Fundraising has been a big part of Volunteer Fire Department funding.  Becasue they are volunteer organizations they are able to apply for gambling permits and use gambling such as Bingo, Raffles and other types of gambling to raise funds.  

Who is working the event?  If the volunteer organization does not have an auxiliary or social organization to facilitate their fundraising then it falls to the firefighters.  

Some Companies are ecellent at fundraising.  Other Fire Companies say that the profit margin for public events may not raise enough funds to warrant the time spent on the event.  Are they discounting a chance to educate their community and inspire new volunteers?