Agency History
In June of 1938, twelve Township residents started the Upper St. Clair Volunteer Fire Department following a fire at St. Clair Country Club. Due to the fire, insurance companies were going to double insurance premiums for township residents due to a lack of organized fire protection.
The department was officially organized in 1938 with $250.00 cash and no real property. The department was chartered as a non-profit corporation in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in November of 1939.
The department purchased its first fire engine in 1939 and housed it in a service station owned by member, Ross Bodgett, at the corner of Route 19 and North Highland Road. Later, the department obtained property across from Westminster Church and built the first fire station in 1949. The fire station has undergone several renovations over the years, being replaced by the current main fire station, located at 2001 Washington Road, in 2005. A second fire station, located at the corner of Hastings Mills and Morton Roads, was built in 1975, on a parcel of land owned by the Commonwealth, to better serve the southern areas of the township.
Today, the department has a fleet of nine vehicles, a paid staff consisting of a fire chief, deputy chief, and fire inspector, and approximately 50 on call volunteers that respond to over 400 incidents annually.
Legal Basis
Upper St. Clair Township is a First-Class Township that adopted a Home Rule Charter on January 5, 1976. While it was officially designated a First-Class Township in 1954, it currently operates under its own Home Rule Charter, functioning as a home rule community in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Pursuant to the Pennsylvania First-Class Township Code, Specific Powers Relating to Emergency Services, Act of March 17, 2008, P.L. 49. No. 9, “An Act concerning townships of the first class, amending, revising, consolidating, and changing the law relating thereto,” providing for specific powers relating to emergency services, the township shall:
(a) be responsible for ensuring that fire and emergency medical services are provided within the township by means and to the extent determined by the township, including the appropriate financial and administrative assistance for these services.
(b) consult with fire and emergency medical services providers to discuss the emergency services needs of the township.
(c) require any emergency services organizations receiving township funds to provide to the township an annual itemized listing of all expenditures of these funds before the township may consider budgeting additional funding to the organization.
The Upper St. Clair Volunteer Fire Department and Relief Association were chartered in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on November 29, 1939, in compliance with the provisions of the Non-Profit Corporation Law of Pennsylvania. The Upper St. Clair Volunteer Fire Department is the sole provider of fire and rescue services for the Township of Upper St. Clair.
By Ordinance, the township recognizes the Upper St. Clair Volunteer Fire Department as the provider of fire protection services to the township and the fire chief, as the director of the Department of Fire Protection, as being responsible for the operational oversight and management of the department.
Looking back at our history
