Oakmont officials welcomed their newest firefighter when Isaiah Wilson, 20, was sworn in by Mayor Christopher Whaley at a council workshop meeting Monday night.

Wilson’s addition makes 20 active members in the borough volunteer fire department, according to Chief Dave Carroll.

“We’re thrilled to have him on board,” Carroll said.

Oakmont firefighters are required to live in the borough, but are permitted to volunteer in other communities, if they wish.

“That was a part of the borough’s initial charter of our fire department back in 1903, and I still think it works today,” Carroll said. “That way we’re serving in the borough where we live. (We’re) part of the community and understand the needs of the community and the fire department, and it gives us the ability to have a quick response time to emergencies.”

Wilson recently moved to Oakmont from Penn Hills, where he volunteered for more than two years at Station 227.

He was one of several to earn the Penn Hills department’s Top 10 Fire Call Response award in 2018.

Wilson said he plans on volunteering for both departments, and continue training through the Allegheny County Fire Academy.

“Someone needs to step up to the plate and do what needs done,” Wilson said of being a firefighter. “People can stand around and wait for someone to arrive, or you can be that person to make a change.”

Penn Hills Fire Marshal Charles Miller said individual stations set their own membership requirements, and it’s not uncommon for volunteers to serve other municipalities.

“There’s a lot of guy that do that,” Miller said. “They belong to multiple stations for one reason or another. They can learn stuff from other places as well. We have a group of guys approaching retirement age, and we have a group of young guys that just came in and we have a few stragglers in-between.”

Station 227 Fire Chief Bill Jeffcoat said his firefighters cannot be members of other Penn Hills companies, but can volunteer for other towns. Wilson’s one of Jeffcoat’s 24 active members and started as a junior firefighter.

“He has some roots here at this station, and as long as he’s able to meet the requirements that are here and there that’s great,” Jeffcoat said. “He obviously wants to work a little bit harder to meet those requirements, so he’ll be here and in Oakmont.”

There are about 150 total active members in the six Penn Hills departments.

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