Area fire departments struggle to survive as the list of requirements grows and the pool of available volunteers shrinks.

At their borough council meeting this week, Mount Jewett officials talked about one way to save resources: combining the Mount Jewett, Clermont (in Sergeant Township) and Hamlin Township fire departments.

The idea is still in its infancy, according to Mount Jewett Borough Council President Brett Morgan, who talked to The Era Wednesday. He said Mount Jewett officials have not yet brought the idea up to the other municipalities.

Morgan explained the idea came about because council was deciding whether to renew Mount Jewett’s fire service agreements with Hamlin and Sergeant townships. Councilman Chuck Paar felt the annual payments from Hamlin and Sergeant to Mount Jewett were “rather low for the amount of fire calls,” so Morgan suggested consolidation.

Not only are there “three fire stations within about seven miles of each other,” but taxpayers are paying to maintain apparatus and buildings for all three departments. Also, membership has gone down quite a bit over the years.

Morgan wants to be clear that the suggestion to consolidate is not meant to be a put-down for local departments, but just a way to help them share resources.

“They do a tremendous service for the community,” he said of area firefighters. “They’ve run their fire departments very well.”

He just doesn’t think the current system is sustainable.

“This is not to try to punish anybody. This is just to try to maintain a viable fire department for all three municipalities,” Morgan explained.

He noted, “I served in the fire department for many years and have great respect for what they do.”

Morgan pointed out that, even if they consolidated, the department will still be serving the same number of homes as other departments.

“We’re all very small municipalities,” he said, adding, “All three have less than a thousand people.”

Meanwhile, nearby Kane Borough has 3,000 people and is served by one fire department, he said.

Morgan also explained that the Mount Jewett VFD is already doing quite a bit to ensure the townships have adequate fire coverage.

The Mount Jewett Fire Department is included on the first dispatch to emergency calls in several areas outside the borough, including the Lantz Corners/U.S. Route 219 area of Hamlin Township and a majority of Hamlin Township on the southwest side in the landfill area.

“There’s a lot of overlapping. It seems like they’re all going to the same calls together,” Morgan said.

If consolidation were to happen — Morgan doesn’t know yet if the townships would agree to it — the logistics would have to be planned at that time. He doesn’t know if a consolidated fire department would make its own in one of the existing fire stations or if a new station would be built in a central location.

While he is hopeful other municipalities will consider his idea, he understands if people are not quick to give up on the departments they have worked hard to maintain.

“There’s a lot of big personalities at play, a lot of pride for these organizations that they have built,” he said.

Morgan suggested the three municipalities could work together, too, on another problem that may come up in the future: paying for police coverage. Pennsylvania officials are now considering a per capita charge to receive state police coverage.

However, state police coverage in their area is “next to nothing,” he said.

All three municipalities currently rely on state police.