By Divit Gupta and Eshan Singh, Staff Reporter and Co-Copy Editor
On Oct. 21, the Tredyffrin Township and Easttown Township boards of supervisors appointed Joe O’Leary to the new position of Fire Administrator.
As Fire Administrator, O’Leary, who is also EMS captain at the Concordville Fire & Protective Association, works to ensure that Tredyffrin and Easttown fire departments receive enough funds from the townships and that they use the funds effectively. He also advises and facilitates communication between the townships and the fire departments, and he makes logistical standardizations to increase efficiency.
“He’ll coordinate budgets, coordinate activities, advise the township on matters of fire and EMS,” Easttown Township Manager Don Curley said. “The goal is to make sure that the township assets are used effectively and efficiently and to ensure that we have the highest-quality fire (and) EMS service.”
O’Leary and Tredyffrin Township Manager Bill Martin said that the number of volunteers at T/E fire departments has decreased in the last few years, resulting in staffing shortages that led to the creation of the Fire Administrator position. O’Leary addresses the staffing issue and supports the departments financially by working with the fire chiefs to determine their needs and goals and developing plans to present to the townships and departments when needed.
“They’ve (the townships have) been contributing more and more money to the operation of the fire service and EMS delivery, but they really haven’t done a deep dive into, number one, how the money is being spent,” O’Leary said. “I think they’ve recognized that, and they’ve gotten ahead of the game to say, ‘Hey, we really need to give the fire company some support to be successful.’ And that’s where I come in.”
Instead of every fire department operating independently, O’Leary has the ability to allocate resources to help the departments collaborate. For example, Paoli Fire Company has the only fire truck ladder in Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships. As Fire Administrator, O’Leary can temporarily assign the ladder to any fire department that needs to use it.
In the long term, O’Leary hopes to expand the Fire Administrator’s reach beyond Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships by working with mutual aid organizations, which are based outside the two townships but assist with large-scale incidents.
“The extent of working together is infinite. We’re going to have the companies that primarily cover this area working together, but we also have mutual aid companies like East Whiteland, Malvern, Upper Merion, Radnor Township, Newtown Square Fire Company,” O’Leary said. “The opportunities are endless.”
Divit Gupta can be reached at [email protected].
Eshan Singh can be reached at [email protected].
