PERDIX, Pa. (WHTM) -
The Perdix Fire Company is less than a half mile away from the scene of a Thursday morning house fire in Penn Township, but the company's firefighters say even though they were the first on scene, they had to watch a neighbor's home burn.
Perdix Fire Company currently is not allowed to respond to fire calls in Penn Township because of an ongoing dispute with township supervisors.
In January 2010, supervisors passed an ordinance to shut down the Perdix Fire Company. The ordinance was challenged in court and this year a judge ruled the supervisors didn't have the authority to close the company.
A lawsuit against the township is ongoing and the fire company's lawyer says the goal is to make sure the fire company can fight in its community again.
The chairman of the board of supervisors could not be reached for comment.
Duncannon Fire Chief Byron Worner said an EMT unit from Marysville was on scene within five minutes. He said the outcome would have been the same if the Perdix Fire Company had been in service.
"The outcome would've been the same. The fire had a tremendous head start, like I said, prior to my arrival," said Byron Worner.
But some leaders with Perdix say that's not true. When they arrived, they said the fire was only in a back room and a hallway. By the time they watched responding crews arrive, the fire had spread.
Perdix Fire Chief Monte Supko said he's frustrated.
"It's very frustrating," Supko said. "When you see people crying and they want to know where are the fire trucks at, and you have to tell them that they have to wait for a neighboring company to get there."
