Harmony Fire District receives $1.2 million grant as part of Community Project Funding
Harmony Fire District will receive $1.2 million in federal funding to replace aging equipment as part of more than $2.5 million in Community Project Funding grants awarded across Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District, according to a Monday news release from U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly.
The company, which serves Harmony and Zelienople boroughs and Jackson and Lancaster Townships, has placed orders in recent years for a new standard fire engine and a rescue engine that will replace two other trucks in the fleet.
Officials said the funding will be put toward those purchases, preventing the company from taking on any long-term debt.
“This allows us to continue to provide the response the community needs,” said Harmony Fire District President Kevin Behun. “Without this type of injection of money, we’d be relying on trucks that were quickly approaching 30 years in age, which is past the National Fire Protection Association service life.”
While the funding will not cover both of the new engines, it’s a significant boost as the company also seeks to recoup money from the sale of two engines from 2002 and 2006.
“We’ll put the financing from the sale of the other trucks toward these two (new engines),” Behun added.
The new standard engine, Behun said, will arrive in 2026, while the rescue engine is scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter of 2027.
In recent years, the company has had to focus much of its attention on a new $7.8 million fire station along Zelienople’s Main Street, which was officially completed in September 2024.
“That size of a project meant everything else that was a part of long-term planning got put to the side for a couple years,” Behun said.
Two other departments in the district also secured funding through the package signed into law last week.
Greenfield Township Volunteer Fire Company in North East will receive $975,000 for a new fire station, while West Mead #1 Volunteer Fire Company in Meadville was awarded $400,077 to replace an aging pumper/tanker.
