Feb 18, 2016 1 min read

SCENERY HILL – North Bethlehem Township supervisors severed ties with Ellsworth Volunteer Fire Company as a first responder in the community, replacing it with a company in nearby Cokeburg.

The decision prompted Ellsworth fire Chief Thomas L. Pysh II to mail letters to North Beth residents to ensure them the company’s firefighters will still respond to calls there, if requested.

“We’re not 100 percent sure why,” Pysh said Thursday about North Bethlehem’s decision. “They said, ‘It’s done. We’re not talking.'”

Pysh said the township indicated the Ellsworth department’s 2014 financial report was incomplete, and that it wanted to know the cost the company will pay for worker’s compensation.

“We never had to turn over anything before,” he said.

The township paid Ellsworth $4,000 a year for fire protection. The company will make do without that money, Pysh said.

North Bethlehem uses a team of fire companies for protection. The other two are in Richeyville and Lone Pine.

“We understand the township’s concern regarding the financials of adding a fourth fire company,” Pysh stated in the letter.

Township supervisors Chairman Robert Taylor could not be reached Thursday.