A fire at a residence on Church Street in Port Allegany Wednesday put a known issue with the county’s emergency radio system at a tipping point.

Star Hose Company Chief Alex Johnson wrote a letter to county officials in an effort to bring the issue to resolution.

Addressed to Tracy Carl, director of the McKean County Department of Emergency Service and McKean County Commissioners Carol Duffy, Tom Kreiner and Cliff Lane, the letter noted Johnson had been in touch with many of the above (with the exception of Duffy) Wednesday morning, outlining concerns about “the shortcomings of the McKean County emergency radio system.” He noted that this has been an ongoing conversation, and that the commissioners acknowledged they were aware of the problem prior to Wednesday’s emergency.

Johnson further explained that the fire at 55 Church St. in Port Allegany Borough led to three firefighters requiring treatment for overexertion. Meanwhile, Johnson stated that six members of the department did not receive the alert for the call, as the county’s system did not activate their pagers.

“The consequences of the county thus far ignoring my repeated warnings has now escalated to that of a real-life safety hazard for our firefighters,” Johnson wrote. He also voiced his intent to be more active in raising awareness for this issue and lobbying for its resolution.

“The citizens of McKean County deserve to know that firefighters may be left unaware of a life-or-death emergency and they deserve to have an answer as to why,” Johnson concluded.

McKean County Commissioner Carol Duffy explained Friday that she and Johnson have had conversations regarding the issue. Johnson mentioned email exchanges in his letter, which Duffy confirmed as she explained,

“Alex has been in touch with me regarding the paging issues. Each and every time that he emails me, of course our director is aware, and he has been pulling in people to troubleshoot and try to assess the situation and come to a solution.

“So far the testing has not really shown anything. Our director, I believe, has some additional people coming in next week to try and help with that situation. We are trying to come up with a solution to that.”

Duffy explained that an all-encompassing solution would require more intensive planning and budgeting, with a focus on where potential funding may come from for that type of project.

“We certainly put the safety of our citizens at the forefront and want to address issues as quickly as possible. I just don’t know that there’s an immediate solution, and that’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for everyone. It’s our topography in McKean County. We’ll just try to address it as we can,” Duffy said.

The coronavirus pandemic has shown just how important the area’s emergency services department and first responders are, as well as how hard they work, Duffy said.

“With the pandemic, our emergency services have really stepped up. They have been trying to assist with the vaccine issue, doing mini clinics. They have put in a lot of overtime,” Duffy said. “The commissioners had to address the safety concerns for our staff, so to have people in and out to start a new project was difficult. Everything was paused when the pandemic hit. We had to pivot and address things as they came. They have done a good job, and we will definitely look at our infrastructure.”

Duffy said she had spoken with Johnson as of Friday and committed to updating him with news as efforts progressed.

“I think we are working together on this to try to come to a solution. I told Alex, ‘I appreciate your passion.’ They all have that passion, and that is important in our community,” she said.

Various legislators and news media were tagged in the social media post, including PA State Rep. Martin Causer and Senator Cris Dush, as well as the Pennsylvania Office of the State Fire Commissioner, The Bradford Era and the Olean Times Herald, the Port Allegany Reporter Argus and numerous television stations.

A call to Carl for comment Friday was not returned, and a call to the Star Hose Company fire station went unanswered.