Jun 12, 2017 5 min read

Local editorials from 50 years ago are being reprinted every Monday and Tuesday in this column. This editorial appeared in the Evening Standard, a predecessor of the Herald-Standard, on June 5, 1967.

On June 8, 1967, the first paragraph of an Evening Standard story read this way:

“A Hogsett St. house was burned out and another damaged in a spectacular fire last night.”

A blaze burned out a two-story, six-room residence leaving a family of parents and five children homeless. An adjoining house was damaged. The story continued:

“Scene of the blaze is in North Union Twp. near the Askren St. intersection with Hogsett and less than one-half block from the Uniontown city limits.”

There may be some conflicting statements about when the call came in to Uniontown’s central fire station.

The procedure among fire departments is for the central station, which receives many fire calls, to use the county’s relay system to notify the volunteer fire departments in the immediate area where the fire occurs.

If asked to do so by the volunteer fire departments in the adjacent areas, out of the city, the Uniontown Fire Department answers an alarm.

When Uniontown Fire Alarm Box 227 was pulled, Uniontown firemen sent two pumper-trucks to the scene and helped fight the fire. Originally North Union volunteer firemen were summoned. They in turn called West Leisenring volunteer firemen for assistance.

Three days later on June 7, 1967, a fast-spreading fire destroyed Al’s Auto Service Garage on Route 51 near the Fayette Plaza Shopping Center.

“Volunteer firemen from West Leisenring and North Union were helpless against the flames, which had engulfed the structure by the time they arrived shortly after 8:30 a.m.,” the newspaper account read.

Since the fire was outside of the city, the Uniontown firemen did not participate in fighting the blaze. West Leisenring and North Union volunteer departments had plenty of equipment and men on the scene but the fire had made such headway and the small supply of water handicapped the efforts to save the structure.

All of this leads up to a persistent thought that keeps repeating itself when these fires just on the outskirts of the city occur.

Uniontown has three fire stations — downtown, in the west end of the city on Kensington Avenue and in the east end of the city on Connellsville Street. The stations have been placed in integral positions so they can respond quickly to any alarm in the city without threading through traffic or being delayed by a possible freight train. Rail lines can isolate one section of the city.

Years ago there was a working agreement between the city and the adjacent North Union and South Union townships for the city to respond to fire calls in the townships.

The township paid $2,500 a year each for such service. Then volunteer fire departments started up in the townships and became exceptionally proficient. The volunteers have modern equipment, attend fire schools and are closely knit organizations.

But still they are volunteer departments. All of the departments have a person on duty at the fire hall or an around-the-clock answering service. A driver takes a fire truck to the scene of the fire and volunteers generally arrive by their own conveyance. They react quickly and efficiently to every type of blaze. So much for the volunteer departments. They are good. Most are well trained, have modern equipment and capable leadership. We need them.

However, there still remains that problem of the buffer zone around the city — property in the immediate area surrounding Uniontown. This is why we need some thinking on the part of city council and the North Union and South Union township supervisors.

We cannot expect the city firemen to run into the townships every time they are phoned, unless they receive some financial remuneration. The city resident pays taxes. For his taxes he has a well-drilled, paid fire department. The township resident or property owner does not pay taxes for fire protection to the city. It is the city taxpayer who meets the most of the fire department’s operations. We believe city council would listen to a logical program of either annual payments or assessments per fire from the townships. One stipulation, we think the city will make, is that the assessments be paid promptly, if an agreement would be reached.

Some areawide thinking about cooperation in fire protection is logical especially in that buffer zone. An amicable proposal is possible. Participating in discussions should be city and township representatives and volunteer and city fire department officials.

Firemen say the first few minutes of a blaze are the most vital as to its destructive effect. Uniontown fire trucks could have made the fastest and shortest runs to the recent fires on Hogsett Street and Route 51.

These spots are in the buffer zone. That’s why we say it’s time something constructive should be achieved.