Youngstown, Whitney-Hostetter fire departments complete merger

The Whitney-Hostetter Volunteer Fire Department will cease operations as it merges with the nearby Youngstown fire department, officials announced Monday.

The newly formed Youngstown-Whitney Volunteer Fire Department will continue to be known as Station 39.

The merger, announced on the Youngstown department’s Facebook page, was a years-long process, according to Barry Banker, borough fire chief.

While all details are not finalized, initial plans show all fire and rescue operations will be handled out of the station in Youngstown Borough, according to the post. Banker said the Youngstown station has better highway access and a larger amount of volunteers.

In 2019, the Whitney-Hostetter department had 22 members on its roster, while Youngstown had more than 50 firefighters, officials told the Tribune-Review at the time.

The Whitney-Hostetter station in Unity, nearly 4 miles from the Youngstown station, will be maintained and used as an overflow space for equipment and storage. As the merger progresses, equipment from both stations will be consolidated to eliminate duplication and to promote a balanced budget, according to the Facebook post.

To support the combined organization, both social clubs will be maintained, as will the ballfield in Whitney, officials said.

Departmentsproposed the merger to Unity leaders in December 2019 and supervisors passed a resolution in support of the consolidation.

Because much of its service area extends into the township, the Youngstown Volunteer Fire Department is included in the Unity Township Fire Bureau, along with seven other departments: Whitney-Hostetter, Crabtree, Dryridge, Lloydsville, Marguerite, Mutual and Pleasant Unity.

Youngstown and Whitney-Hostetter are frequently dispatched as part of a “dual response” to emergencies in their service territories.

“We’ve been operating together for quite some time and it just made sense from a standpoint of efficiency in a lot of ways,” Banker said.

With the merger, area fire departments will continue to work together to provide services to the Unity area, according to the Facebook post, which noted the closest fire station will be dispatched, along with Station 39, on all emergencies within the Youngstown-Whitney home fire district.

Tony Matuszky, fire chief with the Whitney-Hostetter station, noted the community will not see a change in service during the transition.

“We hope that they feel at home and stay for many years into the future,” Banker said of the firefighters from the Whitney-Hostetter department.