Established on March 12, 1895, the Franklin Borough Volunteer Fire Company, No.1 is an ALL VOLUNTEER organization dedicated to providing fire prevention & suppression, basic response level rescue, hazardous materials response & mitigation, and disaster response services to the citizens and visitors of the Borough of Franklin and vicinity. A pumper/rescue truck, a pumper/ladder truck, and a personnel squad are utilized to provide these services, with assistance from automatic mutual aid companies when necessary.

The department operates out of one fire station, located in the Franklin Borough Municipal Building on Main Street in the center of the borough. This is the fourth fire station the department has been housed in throughout our history. Conemaugh Valley Regional Ambulance is also based in this building.

The Franklin Borough Volunteer Fire Company, No. 1 has an annual budget (view graph) of approximately $60,000 and is funded almost entirely through fundraising events conducted by the department’s volunteers. Due to a distressed financial status, the municipal government is only able to provide funding to pay worker’s compensation and vehicle fleet insurance. Fortunately, the fire department has been the recipient of state and federal grants over the last few years that have allowed the department to purchase and upgrade equipment.

The department currently has more than 100 life members and approximately 20 active firefighters and contributing (non-firefighting) members. These VOLUNTEER members dedicate a considerable amount of their time responding to calls, training, maintaining equipment and apparatus, raising funds, and performing administrative work.

Franklin Borough Fire Rescue strives to have a safe environment for our personnel and those within our community, to conduct ourselves in a courteous and professional manner, to deliver quality and efficient emergency services, and to actively educate the public in fire prevention and safety.

Franklin Borough currently has an ISO Public Protection Classification of Class 5 (Class 1 represents superior fire protection and Class 10 indicates the fire protection does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria).