Fire Department Expansion Planned For Falls Township

FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA — The Falls Township Fire Co. No. 1 is getting closer to getting a firehouse expansion.

At its recent meeting, Falls Township Supervisors approved a cooperation agreement between the Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County and Falls Township Fire Co. No. 1 for an expansion project to make room for new apparatus.

The upgrades will be funded by a $1 million grant from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

Township attorney Mike Clarke said the agreement is necessary when an entity receives grant funding because “there needs to be a local sponsor.”

“There is no risk to the township,” Clarke said. “There’s no cost to the township.”

Falls Supervisors last year granted land development approval to permit the Fallsington-based fire
company, which is located on a 1.54-acre parcel on Yardley Avenue, to construct a 2,700-square-foot
addition.

The extra space would be used to house additional equipment that the fire company plans to buy in the next several years, according to Brian Binney of the engineering firm, Pennoni.

The extra space would be comprised of a front-facing bay that would house a full-size fire truck, as well as a bay on the side for a pickup truck, Binney said.

Plans also call for a gear room for the storage of equipment and the reconfiguration of bathrooms and sleeping quarters to enable more volunteer firefighters to stay at the firehouse overnight and occupy the station on off-hours.

The fire company received several variances last year from the zoning hearing board to permit
construction of the addition as planned.