By Mark Spivey - Staff Writer Courier News - March 25, 2009

The boroughs volunteer rescue squad reopened Wednesday after suspending operations for 18 days because of a funding shortage.

The squad closed on March 6 due to a lack of insurance coverage after it could not afford two quarterly bills totaling $14,000, officials said. The reactivation was made possible, according to squad President Stephen Phillips, because to successful negotiations with a new insurance carrier and the generosity of residents, including one longtime supporter in particular.

The squad's new insurance agreement will lower its annual insurance bill from $28,000 to $12,000, said Phillips, who credited borough resident John Langenbach with making the sizable donation that helped make a swift return possible.

"John has been a friend of the squad for a long, long time," Phillips said. "He's always been there for us with an open wallet or a helping hand."

POWER SHIFT

The rescue squad, which is unaffiliated with the borough and ranks among the oldest all-volunteer groups in the state, celebrated its 60th anniversary with a reception and banquet in January. With about 16 to 18 of its 35 to 40 members currently active, it operates from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. weekdays, 24 hours per day on weekends, and handles from 1,200 to 1,400 calls per year.

Squad Capt. Douglas Krisburg said yesterday he decided to retire from the organization last week, citing stress over the temporary closure as one factor but adding that he "has been thinking about it for a long time." Krisburg, who also is a code-enforcement officer in the borough, said he is on sick leave for that position due to a medical condition.

Phillips said the squad has named a new acting captain in Deirdre Wright, a longtime member of the squad whom he described as being "next in line" for the position. Phillips said he anticipates that November squad elections likely will result in her being named permanent captain.

The squad's active status now means that the borough fire department, which filled in to provide 24-hour emergency medical coverage in the interim, will return to its regular schedule of offering coverage between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays only, according to Chief William Eaton. Eaton said his crew handled from 35 to 40 emergency calls during more than two weeks of providing 24-hour coverage, and added that the department did not experience a significant budget impact from the extra work.

"The billing we did to insurance companies of patients we received, when that revenue comes back, it will easily offset the difference in what we paid (extra)," Eaton said. 

HELP STILL NEEDED

Phillips said he and squad officials were touched by an outpouring of support from the community, a movement that included many small donations and a few bigger gestures. The borough's Italian-American social club — which also is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and sits almost directly across from the rescue squad on Somerset Street — is holding a benefit pasta dinner next month, according to president Vincent Scafuto, whom Phillips credited with hanging a sign outside his establishment urging residents to support the squad in the days following its closure.

"We're just trying to do our part to help them," Scafuto said, adding that the club is covering the entire cost of the dinner, with all proceeds donated to the squad.

Still, Phillips said the squad remains financially challenged and will continue to seek donations and organize fundraisers in order to avoid further closures.

"As a volunteer organization, I don't know if we're ever really out of the woods, because we rely so much on people's donations," Phillips said. "I'd hate to have people think that just because our doors are open again that we have more money than we need, because we really don't."

Such fundraising efforts could take on additional importance if the borough's annual aid offering of $25,000 dries up, something Council President Frank "Skip" Stabile said is a possibility, though not certain, owing to the rocky economy.

"Whether the council is going to see fit to continue to include that line item in the budget this year, I don't know, because there is a lot of cutting going on," Stabile said. "But," Stabile added, referring to Monday's council meeting, during which Phillips spoke to borough officials, "it was a pleasant surprise for everyone in the room to hear the squad was reopening."

Driver Sandro Avelar does the first rigcheck after reopening while being supervised by Acting Sergeant Jon DeOliveira