The Bristol Fire Company, America Hose, Hook and Ladder Fire Company, Goodwill Hose Company, and Bristol Consolidated Volunteer Fire Company have committed to becoming one entitythat operates out of one station in Bristol Borough.
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Steve Reeves, the president of the Bristol Borough Fire Association that represents all companies, told Bristol Borough Council Monday evening that they look forward to moving forward in partnership with the borough.
Since the fire association was formed in 2022, the fire companies have formed “strong partnerships” with one another and the community, Reeves said.
Last month, Bristol Borough Council approved an application for a $1.5 million state grant that would help fund construction of a new, centralized fire station. A site has not yet been selected.
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Reeves said the fire companies have been working together operationally, while training, in community engagement efforts, and as neighbors as they look toward an expected future combination.
“Our next step is to find a new home and one spot,” Reeves said.
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Bristol Borough Mayor Ralph DiGuiseppe III said the fire companies held a combined recruitment effort recently that went well.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The Bristol Borough Fire Association was established not to run the fire companies but to coordinate and communicate between the companies. The association was set up to have committees to look at facilities, apparatus, operations, and manpower.
With changes in the fire service and a shrinking pool of members, the 1.7-square-mile borough has looked at combining fire companies and revamping the fire service in town in recent years.
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A 2021 fire study from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development recommended the borough revamp its fire code to be more up to date, create an association of the four fire companies with the ultimate goal of merging, and look at bringing all the fire companies into one station in a central location in town.
The borough’s fire service dates back more than 100 years. There were six fire companies – one for each ward – and then a consolidation in the 1920s. In the 1940s, several fire companies sprung up in the borough. Over the years, the borough has had paid firefighters to supplement volunteers, but the borough has been an all-volunteer service for at least 30 years.
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Reporter Alex Irving contributed to this story.
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