A shuttered East Mountain fire house in Scranton, PA firehouse has reopened it’s doors as of today and has brought back 12-laid off firefighters after a slow response time to a March 16th fire.  The Union will relax a court order requiring four firefighters per apparatus for safety and operate with three per rig.

It was acknowledged by Fire Chief Tom Davis, had the station which is approximately 1.2 miles away remained open the residential house fire would have succumbed to less damage.  “It was determined that the initial response time was 10 minutes becoming a safety issue.” stated by Mayor Doherty.  “This is unacceptable.”  A reorganization with the City’s budget has enabled them to rehire these previously laid off firefighters.

Scranton, PA Fire Department has been serving the City since 1866, the year it became a City.  It had been a volunteer organization until 1901, but retained it had volunteer/paid firefighters until 1907.  It now employs 150 paid full-time professional firefighters.

The City operates (8) fire stations in a 26-square mile area. During a normal tour, there are (10) apparatus and (1) Command in Service. 

(Sources: Firehouse.com & Scranton, PA Fire Department)

(c) 2012 The NW Fire Blog