Cochran Hose Company Officially Takes Over Edgeworth Fire Services

The Sewickley-based  Volunteer Fire Company was officially named the new fire department of Edgeworth Borough at Tuesday night’s council meeting. Council voted unanimously and without discussion to approve the change.

A day earlier, Sewickley Council between the two boroughs. 

The of the  came as a shock following the last meeting, and left firefighters at the department stunned. Since then, Edgeworth council has released a newsletter that elaborates on the reasons for the decertification.

In the letter, the council states that its primary role is to “protect the lives and property of Edgeworth residents.” With that in mind, it determined that “the actual manpower available to the EVFD for fire calls was dangerously low” and did not meet the standards for the National Fire Protection Association.

Cochran Hose Company, on the other hand, has 45 members in its department, 32 of whom are active. Compared with the Edgeworth fire department’s  eight or nine active members, this is a notable increase. For an average call, Cochran usually responds with around 18 to 20 members, and for a confirmed structure fire, has a response of 23 or more, the borough explained.

Borough Manager Marty McDaniel told Patch the decision was not made to save money, but was rather a public safety issue. He said Edgeworth was paying about $45,000 a year for operating supplies, equipment, firetruck repair, parts, gas and other expenses, and was using some of it to put money away for a new firetruck. 

Under the agreement, Edgeworth will pay Sewickley an annual fee of $50,000 and a $9,000 contribution to the Fire Capital Reserve Fund, but Edgeworth is hoping to sell its two firetrucks, which will defer some of the new costs. 

McDaniel said the borough would be sharing equipment with Cochran Hose Company, so there would not be any additional operating or maintenance costs, which he said could potentially end up costing less in the long run. 

Council President Joseph Hoepp said that Mayor Wayne Murphy polled between 10 to 15 members of the community and found that they agreed with the decision. He said he has heard no negative comments and believes that the letter helped clarify the issue for residents.

While the fire department has been decertified, the borough still has ownership of the two firetrucks used by the company. Hoepp said that the goal was to sell them, possibly to local fire departments in Sewickley or .

For those interested in learning more about the new fire company, it is hosting a meet and greet from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 at the .

Another issue discussed at the meeting was the lack of candidates for the position of . The borough currently has three elected auditors, but no one petitioned for their name to be on the ballot for the Nov. 8 election.

Arthur Hallett, who is one of the auditors, has said he would like to run again. However, since his name is not on the ballot, residents will have to write his name in when they vote. Since no minimum votes for a candidate are required in the general election, one vote could result in electoral victory.

“The biggest issue with the auditor is the time we need him is the time the CPAs and tax accountants are doing taxes,” Hoepp said. “So it’s difficult to find somebody. It’s not a huge town, and it conflicts with everybody else’s job. You need someone that’s qualified, because they have to do the report.”