HELLERTOWN, Pa. – Hellertown Borough Council could soon be making changes to its fire services.
The borough, which is currently served by Dewey Fire Company, is considering making the switch to Lower Saucon Fire Rescue.
At its meeting Monday night, council unanimously approved a measure that allows its solicitor to move forward in preparing a draft ordinance and draft agreement between the borough and Lower Saucon Fire Rescue for fire protection services.
Council President Lynley Solt read a statement that confirmed Hellertown is currently negotiating the agreement with Lower Saucon Fire Rescue, which already provides mutual aid and support to the borough.
Solt said Hellertown needs to consider the change to provide “reliable and uninterrupted” fire protection for residents and businesses amid operational challenges at Dewey. Those, she said, include declining volunteer participation and struggles to maintain continuity and leadership, despite citizen outreach and other recruitment efforts.
The borough intends to work collaboratively with both Dewey and Lower Saucon Fire Rescue while honoring Dewey’s more than 100 years of dedicated service to Hellertown, Solt added.
Emergency medical services, which Dewey also provides to Hellertown, would not be impacted by any change to fire protection services, officials said, and Dewey would continue to serve the borough in that capacity.
David Boulin, a resident from Lower Saucon Township, raised concerns during public comment about the potential for another problematic agreement between Hellertown and Lower Saucon. He offered as an example the controversy over funding issues between the two municipalities related to their shared use of the Hellertown Public Library — a battle that ultimately went to court in 2023.
Boulin questioned the extent to which Lower Saucon Fire Rescue is already serving Hellertown and whether Lower Saucon Township taxpayers are getting “paid back” for services used by the borough, which he said has a “huge tax base” compared to Lower Saucon.
Councilmembers emphasized that Monday night’s action was only an initial request for the solicitor to prepare preliminary documents and that nothing has been finalized or signed.
Councilmember Tom Rieger said the potential transition from Dewey to Lower Saucon Fire Rescue is not a “hostile takeover.”
“This is mutual conversations amongst all parties,” Rieger said. “This kicks off a many-month conversation to move forward.”
During council discussion on the matter, Boulin interjected to question which parties have been included in conversations that have already taken place, implying that Lower Saucon Township had not been included.
Solt indicated that representatives from the borough and Lower Saucon Township — including two councilmembers, the solicitor and the township manager — as well as members of Dewey Fire Company and Lower Saucon Fire Rescue had all met for a preliminary discussion. At that time, Hellertown was told to negotiate directly with Lower Saucon Fire Rescue, Solt said.
Councilmember Larry O’Donnell offered some context around the discussions and need for change.
“I think it’s important for people to remember that the Dewey Fire Company is a separate nonprofit and not directly controlled by the borough,” O’Donnell said. “We contract for professional services with Dewey Fire as we do with other nonprofits…this is definitely a complex issue.”
“Volunteer-everything is reaching critical points in a lot of sectors, and the fire departments are definitely hit very hard,” he added.
Rieger said volunteers help the entire community — not one place or another.
“Regardless of if you live in the township or the borough, if you want to be a firefighter, they’re all practicing right now,” Rieger said. “Go down. Doesn’t matter where you do it; it matters that you do it, and I think that’s what we’re losing as a community.”
Council plans to have more in-depth discussion about the matter at one of its September meetings, Solt said.