There’s been talk of shutting down Lake Shore.  There’s been talk of consolidating the Millcreek fire departments into one.  There’s been talk of merging West Lake and Fairview.

And I’m not sure which story is true.

This story from GoErie.com yesterday, bascially assumes that Lake Shore’s station will be shut down altogether, and West Lake would be responsible for the area of Millcreek that Lake Shore currently covers, with Fairview picking up the section of that township that Lake Shore has.  The story also confirms, from Millcreek Supervisor Larry Curtis, that Millcreek is seriously considering merging the five departments into one.  It also confirms what I thought of earlier, that the false-alarm incident with the members of Lake Shore has spurred the discussion of changes.  According to Curtis:

This incident has prompted us to push harder and sooner for consolidation because of the need for better controls.

No kidding.

But then, there’s this story on GoErie this morning that suggests Lake Shore will continue to exist, but will not serve Millcreek at all, just a larger portion of Fairview west of Millfair Road.  Huh?  Lake Shore’s firehouse is physically in Millcreek Township. So how the heck will that work?  Will the citizens of Millcreek be happy that an engine from West Lake will have to drive by Lake Shore’s firehouse in order to get to a call at their residence?

This video from Yourerie.com, suggest they will be shut down completely, or at least the supervisors will want the department to vote on it.  Leaving it to the members of that company to decide their own fate, I highly doubt they will vote to disband.

I feel bad for the remaining members of Lake Shore, having been put in this position by their fellow firefighters.  Either way, Millcreek Supervisors seem to have determined that they no longer want Lake Shore answering calls in their township whether that firehouse stays open or not.   The problem is, supervisors are leaving the future of the company in the hands of the people who are part of it.