Pa. Firefighters will Cross the Bridges When They Come to Them

Nov. 8, 2013
Fire companies would still have to get a permit for each vehicle, but that permit would tell them all the bridges each vehicle can and can't cross.

Nov. 08--It may not be perfect, but bureaucracy worked Thursday night.

Berks County fire company officials, at a forum hosted by state Sen. Judy Schwank, learned how new and lowered weight limits on bridges across the state would impact emergency vehicles.

In short, it means paperwork for fire companies, lots of paperwork.

Kamlesh A. Ashar, PennDOT District 5 bridge engineer, told the firefighters that their companies would have to apply for permits to cross bridges if their vehicles exceed posted weight limits.

And they would have to get separate permits for each vehicle, and for each bridge they could cross.

With about 60 bridges in the county with posted limits -- and assistance agreements that have companies responding to calls in multiple municipalities -- that would mean many permits.

One local official quipped that for his company it would probably amount to 140 permits.

Needless to say, the approximately 30 fire officials at the meeting in the county fire training center were miffed at the idea.

Luckily, a compromise arose.

Brian A. Gottschall, director of the Berks County Department of Emergency Services, asked about simplifying the process.

"Can we work with PennDOT to make a better way," he said, suggesting the county just send PennDOT a list of all the apparatus in Berks.

After a bit of back and forth, a solution was reached.

The PennDOT officials said they could provide permits that would cover all the bridges in District 5, which includes all of Berks; that's how the state handles permits for PennDOT snowplows.

Fire companies would still have to get a permit for each vehicle, but that permit would tell them all the bridges each vehicle can and can't cross.

Earlier, Schwank opened the session by encouraging the fire officials to speak up when they see a problem that the state needs to address. The Ruscombmanor Democrat spoke about a fire company in eastern Berks that merged with another company.

The merger involved the transfer of real estate, and the company was going to be charged a real estate transfer tax. The company contacted Schwank and other state officials, and a bill was crafted to exempt emergency services providers from the tax.

"Sometimes when you complain things do change," Schwank said.

Contact David Mekeel: 610-371-5014 or [email protected].

Copyright 2013 - Reading Eagle, Pa.

Voice Your Opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Firehouse, create an account today!