By David O’Connor
The Intelligencer Journal/New Era
LANCASTER, Pa. — Things may not look all that different if you drive by the four fire stations south and west of Lancaster this first day of 2011.
But different they are, for the new year marks the start of existence for Lancaster County’s newest fire company, a merger of four departments across two municipalities into one new force.
“Everything’s in place, and the transition should be seamless” as the new Blue Rock Fire Rescue gets started today, local overseer Jay Breneman said Friday.
“A lot of work has gone into this,” said Breneman, a Manor Township supervisor and one of five fire commissioners who are helping to oversee the new department’s operations.
The new Blue Rock company is a merger of the former West Lancaster, Millersville, Washington Boro and Highville departments, and serves an estimated 27,000 people in Manor Township and Millersville Borough.
It is one of the county’s largest fire mergers in years, and it comes as volunteer companies are facing declining numbers and dwindling support in the form of donations from residents and businesses.
The four Manor Township/Millersville fire stations will remain in use, but under new call letters and station names.
The former West Lancaster station is now known as the North Station, while Highville is the South Station, Millersville the East Station and Washington Boro the West Station.
Each of the stations will have a separate “house chief,” with one chief of operations, or “fire administrator,” to be selected, Breneman said.
A new logo and other details still are being worked out by the new fire company, which has more than 100 active volunteers.
Developing the new Blue Rock company was the job of a task force that has met for the past two-plus years, and a five-member fire commission will meet monthly to help guide the department’s operations.
Such consolidations are becoming more frequent among volunteer companies in the county and elsewhere, as volunteerism is on the decline and firefighters face more time, work and family constraints.
Breneman and others have said the merger staves off switching to a paid firefighting department for years to come.
The firefighters in the four former companies in late July had voted 78-4 in favor of the merger.
Copyright 2011 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.