Springdale Borough, PA, Firefighters Close to Incident Not Dispatched

    May 27, 2025
    Although the Springdale Borough Fire Department was blocks away from the incident, it was never sent.

    J.D. Prose

    pennlive.com

    (TNS)

    A local fire department in Pennsylvania says a change in county dispatching protocol kept it from responding to a serious blaze on Monday just three blocks away, but the county disagrees.

    Capt. Dan Copeland of the Springdale Volunteer Fire Department in Allegheny County told WTAE-TV that his department did not respond to the fire, which was reported with entrapment, because of the new county policy.

    “We might hear of a fire call that’s in the neighboring community, but if we’re not called, we can’t help,” Copeland told the ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh.

    “If we actually have the staffing at the station, if we were to get on the radio and offer help,” he said, “the county dispatchers won’t acknowledge us and won’t relay the command that there’s a neighboring engine and company that has a staffed unit that can respond to that location.”

    Copeland said the new policy prohibits fire departments from bidding on calls so his department did not go for Monday’s call even though units could have responded in two minutes.

    An Allegheny County spokesperson, though, told the TV station that county policy has not changed, and it has always discouraged bidding on calls.

    Departments should follow the existing dispatching procedures, she told WTAE.

    The spokesperson also said that Springdale was on the dispatch list to be called if there had been a second alarm for the fire, but that was not necessary.

    WTAE reported that one person was taken to a hospital with non-serious injuries in the Monday morning fire in Springdale.

    In a Facebook post, the Springdale department responded to questions from the community about the situation, saying it had 11 firefighters three blocks from the fire at a Memorial Day service.

    “We have been receiving messages and seeing posts questioning why our station did not respond being the closest company to a reported structure fire with entrapment. Unfortunately we can not answer those questions,” the department’s post said.

    “We had equipment staffed with 11 firefighters just three blocks away attending a memorial service. With Allegheny Counties (sic) new dispatching protocols our station did not offer assistance over the radio as bidding is not allowed,” the post read. “To the residents of neighboring Cheswick Borough and the Orrville section of Springdale Township we’re not chosing (sic) not to respond we’re not being called.”

    ©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.