All fire services in Pennsylvania should be entitled to use the funds that are available to their departments. Thatâs the goal for one of the four referendum questions on the state ballot in the May 18 primary.
The premise sounds simple, but according to local fire officials, there is a misconception that approving the referendum could take funds away from volunteer fire companies.
The question originates from the Senate Resolution 6 Commissionâs (SR6) unanimous recommendation to change the Volunteer Loan Assistance Program and add career/combination fire departments.
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âWeâre trying to get Harrisburg to change some archaic laws that exist and open up the program where thereâs a windfall of money that municipal fire departments like the Norristown Fire Department and other departments in Montgomery County can take the opportunity to purchase fire apparatus. This is an important topic locally but also across the Commonwealth,â Norristo
NORRISTOWN All fire services in Pennsylvania should be entitled to use the funds that are available to their departments.
To that end, Norristown Fire Chief Tom OâDonnell is appealing to voters to say âyesâ to a statewide referendum on May 18.
The ballot question stemmed from the Senate Resolution 6 Commissionâs (SR6) unanimous recommendation  to change the Volunteer Loan Assistance Program and add career/combination fire departments, OâDonnell noted.
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âWeâre trying to get Harrisburg to change some archaic laws that exist and open up the program where thereâs a windfall of money that municipal fire departments like the Norristown Fire Department and other departments in Montgomery County can take the opportunity to purchase fire apparatus. This is an important topic locally but also across the Commonwealth,â he said.
By MARC NARDUCCI | The Philadelphia Inquirer | Published: April 9, 2021 PHILADELPHIA (Tribune News Service) James Cowboy Johnson was running errands in his Norristown neighborhood on March 15 when he was stopped in his tracks on Swede Street, where he lives. I saw smoke up the street, but it looked a little different, said Johnson. As he watched in alarm, the smoke got heavy and darker. He quickly realized that it was emanating from a three-story duplex home, which has an apartment on the first floor and another on the second and third floors. Johnson, 70, a four-year Marine veteran, credits his military instincts for what sent him dashing toward the blazing building.