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Suplizio gives thoughts on fire department consolidation

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DuBois and Sandy Township, PA – As the City of DuBois and Sandy Township are working out the details of how the consolidation will happen, the fire department consolidation has been a hot topic since the beginning.

Herm Suplizio, the DuBois City Manager and former fire chief, gave an update during the consolidation committee meeting.

Suplizio says it’s a delicate situation, with nine separate fire companies. He says that people logically know that the area after consolidation will not need to have nine companies, but no one wants their own station to be the one that shuts down.

He also emphasized that these fire companies are run by volunteers who are not paid and who are giving of their own time.

Suplizio says fire volunteers are difficult to find anyway nowadays, so he cautioned against doing anything that would turn volunteers away from their companies.

Under consolidation, Sandy Township and City of DuBois fire companies will operate under one department.

The committees are still determining exactly how the fire department will function and what kinds of changes might need to be made.

Listen to audio from the meeting with Herm Suplizio. Starting around 3:30 into the audio, Suplizio talks about the challenges of consolidation for fire companies and the hard work of their volunteers.

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