UPPER DARBY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A historic Delaware County fire company is selling its firehouse due to a township funding change.
The Upper Darby Fire Company No. 1 was incorporated on April 22, 1916. Over the last 110 years, long-time member and president Peter Rorke said it has been an integral part of the community, and not just when it comes to fighting fires.
“We assisted the residents through their needs, pumped out basements when they were flooded, and even got cats out of trees,” he said. “I learned how to be a man there, the camaraderie, how to treat people, how to be instructed on the fire service.”
But now operational, financial and structural challenges have left the organization without a sustainable path forward in its current form. The township told the fire company that it is changing direct funding to a “reimbursement-based system for operating expenses.”
“Under this new structure, we must front the costs of utilities, maintenance, and building upkeep — with no guarantee of reimbursement,” said the company in a statement. “For an organization that has faced recurring annual deficits and rising costs associated with maintaining a building more than 100 years old, this is not sustainable and threatens funding reserved for the care and well-being of those who have served.”
Rather than follow this reimbursement structure, the company’s membership voted unanimously to sell the building. While the company looks for a path forward, it plans to move the nonprofit into something a little different.
“Right now, things will continue as usual,” Rorke said. “Paid firemen will respond to fires and will be supplemented by our volunteers until the building is sold. That's the way our fire company plans to proceed.”
When the building is sold, the company plans to change its nonprofit’s mission.
“Our remaining priorities will be ensuring that we are able to help support our approximately 100 past and current volunteer members and other volunteer organizations in Delaware County,” said the company in its statement.
However, Rorke added that this crisis is not isolated.
“It’s a national issue,” he said. “Something needs to be done to protect citizens from fire and other perils.”
According to Rorke, the station was recently appraised at $1.2 million.
