Members of the Citizens Volunteer Fire Company and Norrisville firefighters who seceded from the Pennsylvania company last summer have approved a settlement of the distribution of joint property in their "divorce."
The agreement essentially gives title to the Harford County firehouse to the Norrisville firefighters and returns two major pieces of fire equipment that have been housed there to the 75-year-old Citizens company in Fawn Grove, Pa.
The split of the 75-member company began in August, when the Harford County Fire and Ambulance Association voted to secede from Citizens. At the time, Citizens operated two firehouses, one in Fawn Grove and another on Harkins Road in the Pylesville-Norrisville area of northern Harford County.
In seceding, the Harford members formed the Norrisville Volunteer Fire Company and laid claim to the Harkins Road station, which was known as Citizens House No. 2. At the same time, Harford County officials and the firefighters sought an injunction in Harford Circuit Court to bar the Citizens company from taking any equipment from that station.
The injunction was granted and was extended several times by mutual consent while the two sides worked out their differences.
The settlement was signed Tuesday by both sides, officials said.
They said the agreement calls for the title to the building and land on Harkins Road to be transferred to the Norrisville Volunteer Fire Company. Norrisville also will keep Engine No. 1011, a $170,000 firetruck purchased last fall by members of the new company.
The Harford County company also will keep a Chevy Suburban that is used as a utility truck and a pickup truck used for fighting brush fires.
Engine 1012 and a 750-gallon supply truck that had been housed at the Harkins Road station were returned to the Citizens firehouse in Fawn Grove.
"I think everybody is relieved that the dispute has been resolved and the terms are acceptable to all," said D. Reed Anderson, a York, Pa., attorney and Citizens member who represented the Pennsylvania fire company.
He said that while the Fawn Grove station was able to retain the firefighting equipment it needed to operate independently, its members will continue to cooperate with Norrisville firefighters in answering calls in the joint service area along the Maryland-Pennsylvania border.
"They know the bottom line is giving fire and emergency service to the community," he said.
Gregory M. Skinner, president of the Norrisville company, concurred. "I am pleased we were able to go through the entire process without any interference of service to the community, which is our paramount interest," he said.
He said the settlement will not leave the Harford County company -- or the Pylesville-Norrisville area -- short of equipment. Shortly after the breakup, Norrisville purchased a used ambulance from the Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company in Baltimore County. It also is using an engine on loan from the Abingdon Volunteer Fire Company that had been taken out of service.
Ernest Crofoot, a Harford County attorney who represented the Norrisville firefighters, said miscellaneous items, including personal property, radios, and gear, were easier to sort out in seeking the settlement.
He said the major stumbling blocks were the large equipment and the Norrisville firehouse, primarily because of the significant financial contributions the Harford County government had made for its renovation.
Tensions among the Citizens firefighters had been mounting for years because of the significant difference in financial support that the company was receiving from Harford County and from the Pennsylvania municipalities.
In fiscal 1994, for example, Harford County contributed $156,496 to the joint company's operating budget. Fawn Grove area municipalities gave $10,350.
Court records show that since 1982, Harford County has contributed $350,000 for the reconstruction and renovation of the Harkins Road station and more than $1.2 million to help pay for the joint company's operations and equipment.
"Both companies acted responsibly in cooperating to get this agreement and in continuing to provide services during the negotiations," Mr. Crofoot said.