Butler Township Joint Chief Chris Switala has proposed a joint operations plan between the city of Butler and Butler Township for its fire services.

During the Butler Township commissioners meeting Monday night, Switala said township and city fire officials began working on the proposal in February.

Switala said the driving force for a joint agreement was a lack of volunteers and staffing struggles.

“The basis of it is neither department can do it alone,” he said. “Essentially, what we want to do is form a functional combination fire service for Butler City and Butler Township.”

Switala said opting into intergovernmental agreements, as opposed to a merger, allows the two departments to have some independence.

“The goal is obviously to be equitable,” he said. “We can build off each other's strengths.”

Township Commissioner Dave Zarnick said commissioners were aware of the issues afflicting fire departments statewide, but Switala's proposal put things into perspective.

“I know it's not easy on this topic, but it's something that needs to be done for the community,” Zarnick said.

Butler Mayor Ben Smith said he was pleased to see movement on the issue as he had followed the discussions between township and city fire officials over a number of months.

“The overall idea and even some specifics are not new at all,” Smith said. “I think it's the way forward.”

Smith said the township and city firefighters have done a great job of collaborating and shown potential to mesh well through a joint plan.

“We've got to work together,” Smith said. “We both want to see things move forward.”

More than 20 firefighters attended the meeting, many sporting township station numbers.

Assistant Chief Dave Bestwick said pride had to be placed on the back burner to survive challenging circumstances.

“It's bittersweet,” Bestwick said. “It's sad that we've come to this point.”

Bestwick said he appreciates the cooperation of the city and its firefighters, and willingness to work toward a common goal.

“We all are very proud in what we do,” Bestwick said. “We tried to let statistical data drive the decision-making process.”

According to Switala, the station in command would still be dictated by the location of the incident with the caveat of Switala being able to oversee any operation.

Switala said declining volunteerism will be a continued threat to fire departments for the forseeable future.

Switala showed the township commissioners statistics from state Senate Report 6, which analyzed fire departments across Pennsylvania.

In the 1970s, there were 300,000 volunteer firefighters in the state; in the early 2000s, there were 60,000; and in 2018, there were roughly 38,000.

“There's other data that suggests there may even be less than that,” Switala said. “This is something that's happening everywhere. It's not just unique here.”

Switala then showed statistics from the city and township departments, highlighting areas of response time and turnout of township volunteers.

“It's just because you have unstaffed response stations,” Switala said. “These are starting to hit critical minimums for what we need for certain types of calls.”

Switala said he was concerned that many volunteers responding the most were over the age of 30.

“The people (who) are the top responders in the department, making 5 percent of the calls, only 20 percent of them are 30 or younger,” he said. “The top responders are retiring off, and we don't have enough (firefighters) to fill out those gaps.”

As part of the proposal, Switala made suggestions that could improve figures through the new joint plan.

Switala said station duty shifts, standby crews and live-in programs could all increase response time and the number of volunteers at a scene.

He said he wants the city to handle more routine alarm calls, alleviating the burden on the township's volunteers.

Another suggestion is to reduce the number of stations to three, keeping the Butler City station, Lyndora station and Meridian station. He said this should allow the departments to cut operating and maintenance costs.

“That's based on coverage of that area and where we have our volunteers,” he said.

Switala said a joint operations plan could be the first step in regionalizing fire services, as he has seen in other parts of the state.