Blair County Judge Lou Schmitt on Monday granted a preliminary injunction to the Pinecroft Volunteer Fire Company against a decertification scheduled for the following day by the Antis Township supervisors, in response to Pinecroft’s refusal to be absorbed by Excelsior Fire Department No. 1 of Bellwood.

Schmitt set a hearing on the matter for March 26.

The supervisors had been pushing for a merger of the companies for years, based on two state studies that recommended creation of a single township department, to ensure there would continue to be enough manpower to handle emergencies, to deal with the increasing costs of equipment and to ensure that firefighter training was up to standard.

The companies were close to a handshake agreement that would have led to Pinecroft’s absorption, except for a couple minor language issues, until a vote of Pinecroft members a few days prior to the March 5 deadline for the agreement scotched the deal, based on those members being unwilling to lose their Pinecroft identity.

That March 5 deadline set by the supervisors was arbitrary, it didn’t give the parties sufficient time to work out the issues, there’s still no reason for haste and the parties may yet be able to figure out a way to unify while also permitting Pinecroft to retain its identity, argued Pinecroft attorney Joe Addink in the complaint that secured the preliminary injunction.

Moreover, decertification could lead to the loss of eight to 10 Pinecroft firefighters to the community, as well as the company’s station and equipment, according to Addink.

Addink asked the court for “the ability to continue negotiations for a reasonable period of time.”

Township solicitor Patrick Fanelli said the township will answer the Pinecroft complaint before long.

“The complaint comes down to they didn’t like the result,” Fanelli said. “I don’t see any legal argument why (the supervisors) can’t do what they (proposed to do).”

The supervisors were intentional in their push for Pinecroft to be absorbed, according to township Manager Doug Brown, speaking last week.

Excelsior is the stronger company, Brown said.

It has many more active members, and many more members with the proper training, he said.

Pinecroft, by contrast, has struggled.

Those struggles include malfeasance by a former leader several years ago in connection with funds.

The “merger” that the supervisors insisted on — in which one company assimilates another — is simpler to execute and far less expensive than “consolidation,” which is appropriate for a combination of equals, and which involves dissolution of both entities and creation of an entirely new one, Brown said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.