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The History of the Twin Valley Fire Department
The idea of the Twin Valley Fire Department came about in the summer of 2000. There were a few firefighters from Morgantown and Elverson at a picnic, sitting around casually talking with a Caernarvon Township Supervisor named Charlie Byler. As we talked mostly about the fire service, Charlie had made a comment that had shocked us. His comment was “I see the day that Elverson and Morgantown will become one fire department.”
A few years had passed, but the idea that Charlie spoke of was still burning in the minds of a few members of each company and the makeup of the two companies had already began to change. Elverson was quickly becoming an aging company, mostly comprised of members in their mid thirties and older; while Morgantown was a very young company with the main core of it's members being between the ages of 18 and 30.
The companies strived very hard to never duplicate equipment, and this working relationship had been going on for decades. Elverson has always been an Engine Company. Operating with two pumpers and a tanker, while Morgantown had taken on the specialty jobs of a truck and heavy rescue company. The younger, more energetic members that couldn’t get enough fire fighting had already been running with both companies. And with only 2.5 miles separating the companies, the idea of a merger began to look more like a real benefit to our community and had quickly become the conversation among the members of each company.
On February 27th of 2005, a meeting was called for the line officers of both companies to discuss the possibilities of merging the companies into one department. A committee was formed comprising of 4 members of each company.
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Elverson
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Morgantown
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Mike Romig - Fire Chief
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Chris Witkowski - Fire Chief
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Tim McEwen - Deputy Chief & Trustee
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Keith Romig - Deputy Chief & Vice President
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Bob Gebhart - Vice President & Trustee
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Jeff Cook - Assistant Chief & Trustee
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Bob Cook - President & Assistant Chief
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Corey Romig - President & Battalion Chief
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Shirley Romig - Recorder of Minutes
The committee had a meeting with Dean Fernsler from Department of Economic and Community Development in Harrisburg to start the groundwork and get guidance on where and how to start the process. Tom Flannigan and his Company VFS (Volunteer Financial Services) was also a big factor in guiding us through the merger. A few weeks later, we met with representatives from all six municipalities to discuss our plan. The idea was welcomed with much enthusiasm and with their approval, the merger was well on its way.
It was presented to both companies at their meetings in August 2005 to get approval to start the merging process, bringing Elverson and Friendship Fire into one department. There was a unanimous vote from both companies to proceed.
It was the desire of both companies to build a new station and the process of looking for a location that was centralized to both towns began. To our surprise, the Twin Valley School Board offered us land at Route 23 and 401, just west of the new elementary school. They gave the land to us as a donation, showing their support of the merging companies. That was the boost that pushed us over the top.
The newly formed merger committee began to meet and would have meetings two times a month for nearly a year. They wrote up a new set of bylaws for Twin Valley Fire Department and the Twin Valley Fire Relief Association. These Bylaws were presented to both Elverson and Friendship Fire companies and were approved by an unanimous vote.
In September of 2005, it was presented to both companies to form an nomination Committee for the purpose of holding and election at a special meeting on November 11, 2005.
The Election was held on Nov. 11th 2005 with 45 members present and the results of that election was as follows:
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Fire Chief
Deputy Chief
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Trustees
Financial Secretary
Membership Secretary
State Representative
Fire Police Captain
Fire Police Lieutenants
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Mike Romig
Chris Witkowski
Bob Cook
Corey Romig
Shirley Romig
Bill Major
Jason Brooks
Duane Corwley
Bob Gebhart
Tom Hartzell
Shawn Leisey
Tim McEwen
Traci Witkowski
Shirley Romig
Jason Brooks
Todd Mast
Fred McMullan
Harry Barnett
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The elected officers were to hold their positions until the time we were in our new Building. The merging process seemed to be moving along fairly smooth until a day in April of 2006 when tragedy hit home.
The Elverson Fire Company sadly announced the passing of their chief, Michael Romig. Mike had passed away in the early morning Tuesday April 11, 2006 after a complication from surgery. Mike had been a member of the Elverson Fire Company since 1964 and had held many offices in the organization. Mike was the first elected chief of the newly organized Twin Valley Fire Department. His wife Shirley and his two sons Corey and Darryl survive Mike. Mike also served as the Emergency Management Coordinator for Elverson Borough and West Nantmeal Township.
The passing of Mike had stopped us in our tracks and all talk of merging and meetings came to a halt. To honor Mike and his lifetime dedication to the fire service, the Elverson Fire Company voted to make Mike their last Chief. As the Summer of 2006 passed by, the talk of finalizing the merging of the two companies was beginning to pick up and it was decided to start having combined company meetings in October.
At the November meeting, it was voted on with an unanimous vote to have our deputy chief Chris Witkowski take over the position of fire chief. He began the process of selecting his line officers and the Twin Valley Fire Department began to take form and it was decided that the official start date was going to be January 1st 2007.
The Chester County Fire Chiefs Association assigned us our new station number of Chester County Station 69 and the Chester County Department of Emergency Services decided they would start dispatching Station 69 on January 8th 2007.
Many committees were put together to handle task like insurance, forming new bank accounts and combining payables and assets, putting together the two companies memberships, and many more issues too numerous to mention.
We are very proud of the accomplishment of the task of merging two fire companies into one. It shows the commitment and dedication of the members of Elverson Fire Company and Friendship Fire Company of Morgantown, by putting aside their pride and making a stronger department with more manpower and more financial health. The six municipalities we serve also need to be commended for their financial support of the Twin Valley Fire Department. Without them supporting our financial plan, none of this would ever have been possible.
Thank you:
Caernarvon Township Berks Co.
New Morgan Borough Berks Co.
Elverson Borough Chester Co.
West Nantmeal Township Chester Co.
East Nantmeal Township Chester Co.
Warwick Township Chester Co.
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January 9th, 2007: Station 69 officially in service. Chester County Fireboard placed a page @ 0900 hrs, stations 9 & 32 no longer exist.
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January 10th, 2007: Station 69 handles it's first call. Dispatched at 1123 hrs, for a fire alarm at the Whitford Corp.
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