Chief reports loss of young firefighter

DINGMAN — Fire department news dominated the Jan. 20 session of the Dingman Township Supervisors. “A 16 year member of our Fire Department died of apparent heart failure. Kris Hulseburg passed away on Jan. 13. He was only 32 years old, a good fireman and an active member liked by everyone,” said Dingman Township Fire Chief Bill Mikulak. An obituary appears on page 17. There were 280 responses by the fire department in 2008 of which 90 % were in Dingman Township. Thirty of those calls were false alarms generally triggered by the home owner cooking. When food begins to burn it sets off the automatic smoke detectors, the alarm company gets notified and calls the fire department. If the homeowner tries to cancel the call by calling the alarm company they generally can’t get through because their automatic telephone dialer is in use. Then the fire department has to respond. The Dingman Township Fire Department is holding a breakfast on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 1, that is open to the public. Mike Vallis, the new Fire Chief of the Milford Fire Department also reported. “We had 387 calls in 2008 and 180 of them were in Dingman,” said Vallis. In other business Township Sewage Enforcement Officer Chris Wood suggested an overhead covering should be erected over the handicapped entrance ramp to the Township Office. He said the bitter cold weather causing ice problems for everyone is making the ramp dangerous. “Permit applications died off quietly after Christmas. We have had a great amount of telephone calls and residents coming to ask questions which is a good sign for the economy in 2009,” Wood added. The supervisors approved attendance of the three board members as well as any other necessary town employees at the upcoming PSATS (Pennsylvania State Association of Town Supervisors) Convention. Although it is a convention, there are many educational training seminars for convention attendees. The event will be held this year, Apr. 19-22, in Hershey.