Darby Township shuts down volunteer fire company, takes fire trucks

DARBY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WPVI) -- A Delaware County fire company has been indefinitely closed and the trucks have been taken from the property after officials said they do not have the membership or certifications to effectively run.

Darby Township police and commissioners showed up at Goodwill Fire Company on West Cooke Avenue in the Briarcliffe section of the township after 9 p.m. on the night of Thursday, May 22.

"They hit the clickers and raised all the overhead doors and here's the cops," said the fire company's interim president Dan Assal.

Officials took the two fire trucks, which the township does own.

"'What are you doing?' 'We're taking your trucks.' 'Why?' 'You don't need to know,'" Assal said, recalling the conversation. "And it was like an armed camp."

The Action Cam found one truck parked at the township building. The other is being stored at the Sharon Hill Fire Department.

The township said in a statement in part, "The primary reason for the 'out of service' designation was the inability of the all-volunteer fire company to adequately respond to service calls with fully trained and certified operations and engineers with the fire apparatus in use at the station."

"We need firefighters like every fire company around us. We're all struggling for the same pool of people," said Assal, who added the company has only 10 to 12 volunteers and they need more.

The township also said, "Out of an abundance of caution the vehicles were moved by certified drivers (...) to prevent any potential damage..."

"They took personal gear that was on the trucks that belonged to the members out with it and we still don't know where it's at. We haven't been able to access the trucks," said Assal.

Officials say Darby Township Fire Company is still running and it has mutual aid agreements with firehouses in other townships.

They also said the fate of Goodwill Fire Company will be discussed at the next commissioners' meeting on June 11.