The Nov. 13 Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners meeting started with the recognition of veterans across the township and a proclamation honoring a firefighter.

Board Vice President Philip Ginder read a proclamation declaring Nov. 13 Raymond Dankel Day in the township.

Dankel has been a Whitehall Township firefighter since October 1969. He also served as assistant fire chief two separate times. He is retiring with more than 50 years of service under his belt.

In other business, two representatives from the Department of Community and Economic Development gave a presentation on a fire study conducted in the township. Robert Hayden, who serves as a consultant for the DCED, said the recommendations outlined are meant to “help the township do what it wants to do.”

Hayden gave the township a few recommendations, one of which was to start using a quality control program to ensure data is consistent and complete. The team noticed sets of data that should provide the same statistics did not line up.

Including the response times of Station 35, the fire police, could also skew the numbers, Hayden added.

Another recommendation was to evaluate the township’s 2024 data and determine if career staff is feasible. Hayden suggested this based on response times and lower response rates during the day.

The township could also operate a three-station system if necessary, using Stations 36, 38 and 39 - Fullerton, Hokendauqua and Egypt, respectively.

According to the National Fire Protection Association 1720, response time compliance for volunteer stations requires 15 firefighters to respond to a scene within nine minutes 90% of the time. Hayden said the township meets compliance 44% of the time, including Station 35, fire police.

The board also recognized the retirement of two police officers, Kevin Fuehrer and Sgt. Mark Nederostek.

The board will next meet 7 p.m. Dec. 4 at the municipal building, 3219 MacArthur Road.