At last Monday's meeting, Columbia Borough Council voted to shut down Columbia Consolidated Fire Company (CCFD) if it does not get on board with the current consolidation process in the borough. CCFD leadership has until the close of the monthly meeting on Tuesday, October 21 to comply or be decertified by Fire Chief Scott Ryno.
Susquehanna No. 4 Treasurer Henry Reese told council that Susquehanna and Columbia No. 1 have each put up $2,000 for legal fees and signed off on the agreement. CCFD has also put up $2,000 but has thus far not signed off. "We have no idea what their intent is," he said. Currently, the plan of merger cannot be initiated, because not all three departments are supporting the process, Reese added. He asked council to facilitate a deadline to get the process underway. "We want them to be part of it. We need them. We want them in the process."
Councillor Mary Barninger said she had spoken to Steve Henry, Jr., chairman of the board of the newly formed organizational structure at CCFD, who told her that the merger document the other two companies have signed is in the hands of their attorney.
Ryno said CCFD is struggling to get fire trucks out the door due to dwindling membership.
"We're in a potential serious situation," he said, adding that fire calls with no water could occur. "It's getting worse by the day. It very much concerns me," he said.
Ryno explained that Columbia has three zones, giving each station a primary responsibility. "I strongly feel for the protection of the community I've got to ASAP redo some things on the box alarms and put additional resources into their [CCFD's] zone. I'm not going to take them off of their calls, but they're going to get additional help coming to their calls to ensure the protection of the community."
