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Fire chief urges council to remove ban on officers serving in other municipalities
Summary
Fire Chief Charles Anderson asked the council to strike subsection 4 of ordinance 27-15a, which prohibits department officers from also serving as officers in other municipalities, arguing it excludes experienced candidates and does not prevent mutual-aid response conflicts.
Fire Chief Charles Anderson told the council he believes subsection 4 of ordinance 27-15a — which forbids department officers from being officers elsewhere — is overly restrictive and excludes experienced candidates the borough could use.
"So I'm requesting, to be eliminated. Subsection 4, department officers shall not also be officers in the fire department of another municipality," Chief Anderson said. He argued the clause does not prevent firefighters from responding to mutual-aid calls and that allowing officers who also serve elsewhere can improve coordination at multi-department incidents. He also noted that 22 of the borough's 51 active firefighters (about 43%) are members of multiple departments, a dynamic he said the ordinance currently penalizes.
Council members questioned insurance and response-priority implications, including how liability would be determined if an officer traveling in a personal vehicle were involved in an accident while responding. The council agreed to take the discussion under advisement and return the ordinance item to old business at the next meeting for further consideration.
