The city of Warren will act as the third line of EMS coverage in Pine Grove Township.

What began a few years ago as a controversial idea of neighboring township and boroughs paying the city to respond to EMS calls outside of Warren has turned into a 10th agreement with a neighboring community with the addition this week of Pine Grove Township. The Russell Volunteer Fire Department and EmergyCare Inc. are Pine Grove’s two primary EMS providers, with Warren firefighters responding with the city’s ambulance if the other two providers are out of service.

The agreement, which is the same as the city has reached with the other nine neighboring townships, was approved at Monday’s City Council meeting. No one from the public spoke in favor of or against the contract.

“As council is aware, such agreements ensure EMS coverage for citizens in need outside of the city while ensuring the city fire department is more appropriately compensated when responding to EMS calls outside of the city,” said Dave Krogler, Warren fire chief.

Volunteer fire department staffing has been an issue statewide, with Warren County no exception. City officials have moved to find compensation from neighbors on mutual aid EMS calls because the city’s firefighters were responding to a rising number of calls outside the city limits – which in the city’s view meant city resources were being spent outside the city’s limits without compensation.

“The trend that we’ve experienced over the years, and the trends in the difficulty in the volunteer fire departments to meet staffing, that’s why we’ve entered into these types of agreements,” Krogler said.

Council members asked why the Pine Grove agreement is ending in December rather than a longer-term contract similar to others the council has approved. Krogler said many of the original municipalities the city has signed EMS contracts with signed longer-term contracts while others have signed one-year agreements. The idea is to eventually get the contracts to be renewed at the same time every year to reduce the amount of paperwork and management time for both the city and its partners.

The path toward contracts with neighbors for EMS coverage hasn’t always been smooth. Youngsville officials have balked in the past at signing on as a client, for example, while initial bills to some municipalities haven’t been paid. But, Mayor Dave Wortman said a lot of progress since the city began the process of signing contracts for EMS coverage in 2021.

“I’ve said it before, but I think the work that Chief Krogler and the area fire departments and the EMS providers are doing a fantastic job being in at the center of a really difficult problem,” Wortman said. “Statewide, in terms of positioning the city to be able to enter into agreements that not only are beneficial to the city of Warren residents but to the outlying townships, I think it’s so important. I just want to commend Chief Krogler and the city staff that worked hard again to put the 10th EMS agreement in place with Pine Grove Township.”