Official: Drilling highlights firefighter need

Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa.

The gas drilling boom in the Marcellus Shale is highlighting Pennsylvania’s need for more firefighters and for special training on how to respond to gas-well blowouts, the state’s fire commissioner said.

Commissioner Edward Mann told members of the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission in Harrisburg on Wednesday that Pennsylvania now has about 50,000 volunteer firefighters, about one-sixth what it had 30 years ago. Companies are under significant financial strain in boom areas whose population is growing, Mann said.

“The chicken barbecues don’t work very well anymore,” he said.

Mann asked the commission to recommend ways to help underwrite special training for volunteers.