Agreement

to lend mutual aid. Norristown already had agreements with Upper Merion’s volunteer companies but now that that department is a municipal entity, another agreement needed to be signed. Upper Merion officials had already approved it, he said.

Councilman Derrick Perry asked whether a regional plan for area fire departments was “in the works.”

O’Donnell said Montgomery County recently paid for a study concerning regional fire departments but the idea did not get support.

“I am not giving up hope,” said O’Donnell. “The solution to a lot of our staffing and fire service needs to be on a regional level. That is something the elected officials need to make happen.”

Borough Manager Crandall Jones agreed that “the outcome of the study wasn’t what we wanted… A lot of fire companies out there don’t want to change. The managers have to get engaged and the elected officials.”

Jones who is serving a term as president of a consortium of municipal managers said O’Donnell led a panel discuss of the idea with that group to “get it on the radar.”

Councilwoman Olivia Brady asked if other municipalities have mutual aid agreements.

O’Donnell told her that it was important to get the agreements in writing because of liability issues.

“If somebody gets injured or killed, who owns that?” he said. “It keeps it out of court.

The agreement means the departments will “provide mutual assistance to the parties for control of fire, fire prevention, emergency medical services, hazardous materials control, and/or other emergency support in the event of a major fire, disaster or other emergency.”

Council also approved the promotion of David A. Hicks Jr. to assistant fire chief.

Later Hicks said that he has been a life-long resident of the Pottstown area.

“I became a volunteer firefighter in high school in 1996,” Hicks said. “It was something that seemed fun to do, and my friends that were already doing it talked me into it. I took to it right away and felt like one of the team. I continued volunteering through my college years and eventually landed my first career firefighter job with the Pottstown Fire Department in February of 2003. I worked there until November of 2007 when I took the career firefighter job with the Norristown Fire Department. I chose to make the move because the Norristown Fire Department is more progressive and has more opportunities for career advancement. I served in the ranks of the Norristown Fire Department as a firefighter for nine years and a captain for two years. I enjoy what I do and look forward to coming to work every day.”

He added, “I did not plan on becoming a firefighter. The calling chose me. Events in my life lined up at the right time to allow me the opportunity to become one. Everywhere I went in life it seemed the fire service was just around the corner, showing me that the option to join that profession was available. Becoming a career firefighter was the best decision I could have made in terms of loving my job, and providing for my family. I do not ever look back on that choice and wonder what if I had chosen a different path in life. There isn’t another job in the civilian world where team work is so important, where you literally put your life in the hands of your fellow platoon members and they do the same with theirs. This is not the profession for lone wolves or solo artists. I come to work every day to be part of the team that makes a difference every day in the municipality of Norristown.”

Hicks and his wife, Kelly, have been married for 18 years. The couple has two sons, two sons, David,17, and Gabriel, 14.