07/03/08 — CONNEAUT LAKE — Chief Michael Betts of Conneaut Lake Volunteer Fire Department knows that when the fire siren goes off, his department has to respond.

And he knows it’s going to cost more money to respond than last year, because of the increased cost of gasoline needed for the fire trucks.

Betts isn’t alone, according to U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who visited Conneaut Lake on Wednesday to discuss legislation that he plans to introduce to help volunteer fire departments recoup some of the increased gasoline costs. It was one of three stops that Casey made in northwestern Pennsylvania that day. He said the legislation would be formally introduced next week.

Betts was joined by representatives of Greenwood and Summit Township volunteer fire departments as well as from Conneaut Lake Area Ambulance Service, Crawford County Office of Emergency Services and county commissioners for the announcement by Casey at Conneaut Lake Fire Hall.

Noting that Pennsylvania has 1,700 volunteer fire departments serving more than 75 percent of Pennsylvania’s population, Casey said it’s important that those departments stay financially healthy.

“We are going to lose lives. People are going to die,” he said, speaking about a possible scenario of firefighters not responding properly or at all because they can’t afford the gasoline.

People must be assured there is equipment and funds to operate within an emergency, said Casey, the Democrat U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. “We are one tragedy away from that.”

Casey’s legislation, the Supporting America’s Volunteer Emergency Act of 2008 (SAVE Act), would establish a grant program to be distributed to fire companies to help fuel fire trucks.

Under the act, a baseline of gas and diesel prices uses average prices from 2007. Volunteer fire companies would be eligible for reimbursement of 75 percent of budget overages because of the rising cost of gas over the baseline numbers.

Companies then would receive a grant to help cover the additional costs. For example, a volunteer fire company that uses 1,000 gallons of diesel gas would receive approximately $1,725 in reimbursement under the program.

Money to pay for the fire department grants could be realized if tax breaks for the wealthy are cut or from other federal programs.

“We need to make sure we can make ends meet so we literally don’t run out of gas,” said Casey, referring to firefighters responding to fires.

It was welcome news to Betts and the other chiefs. Betts said the high price of gas is causing some financial problems for that department. Conneaut Lake Borough Council once gave the fire department $3,000, plus paid for all the gas. With the increased cost of gas, the borough has eliminated the $3,000 stipend, Betts said. While the volunteers are pleased that the borough is paying for the gas, it means they have lost the $3,000 stipend that was used for other department expenses.

Betts and Pete Albaugh of Summit Township agreed there are other problems at well: Cost of running the trucks for training purposes and cost of volunteers to respond to fires.

Albaugh said his department is considering giving stipends to volunteers to help pay their gas costs.

Fire trucks only get between four and five miles per gallon of gas. Gas tank capacity is 55 gallons so a fill-up can be very costly. Firefighters have to make certain that the trucks are full at all times, both for the initial response and in case a fire call lasts for hours with the truck constantly running at the scene.

In another effort to reduce the cost of fuel, Conneaut Lake VFD has decided it won’t participate in any parades — except those in the borough itself.

Betts said since Sheetz Inc., a gas station at Conneaut Lake, has no diesel fuel at this time because of a construction project, the trucks must travel to the intersection of routes 322 and 98 to another Sheetz station — about five miles away.

Greenwood VFD Chief Hank Piatt said his department has similar problems with fuel costs, but its township supervisors give the department the $20,000 generated from taxes paid by employees working in the township.