Fire departments in a Dauphin County township could hire full-timers as demand grows

VIDEO: Dozens of firefighters filled the Lower Paxton Township supervisor meeting Tuesday night. The township is Dauphin Countyโ€™s largest municipality that still solely relies on volunteer firefighters to handle its three departments โ€“ Colonial Park, Paxtonia and Linglestown.

โ€œMake no mistake our volunteer firefighters are deeply committed professionals,โ€ said Brett Graham, the townshipโ€™s Deputy Fire Chief. But now, fire officials are looking to hire up to ten full time firefighters to work alongside the townshipsโ€™ 75 volunteers. โ€œThe volunteers we have do a tremendous job,โ€ said John Fogg, Chief of the Colonial Park Fire Department. โ€œThe problem is we hit a point in the system where volunteers are not enough fire protection.โ€ Graham added, โ€œAs our community grows so do the demands of our fire services. In just the last year alone our call volume grew sixteen percent.โ€

WHTM-TV ABC 27 Harrisburg

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