You Cannot Threaten Volunteers and Call It Cooperation
This statement may be attributed to the Belle Valley Fire Department. We request that, if the statement is truncated for broadcast or a print article, that the statement appear in full on the web version of the story:
Late Monday afternoon, the Belle Valley Fire Department received a threatening letter from Millcreek Township Fire Chief Mike Cliff warning of serious consequences unless the department complied with his demands. The letter declared Belle Valley in "material breach" of its agreement with the Township and imposed deadlines that could ultimately lead to its termination.
Not even 24 hours later, Chief Cliff and the Millcreek Township Supervisors held a press conference to attack Belle Valley publicly, without even extending the basic courtesy of informing us that it was taking place.
That is not how partners resolve differences. It is not how you work in good faith. And it makes clear that the people currently in charge of Millcreek Township are more interested in publicity rather than sitting down and negotiating in good faith with volunteer fire departements.
Chief Cliff's letter claims there is a "willingness to work with Belle Valley." His actions tell a very different story. In fact, since taking the helm of the Millcreek Fire Department, Chief Cliff has established a troubling pattern of threats, pressure, and public attacks against the Township's volunteer fire departments.
At the May 28 Fire Commission meeting, Chief Cliff threatened to withhold state-allocated fire relief tax money that is provided to volunteer fire departments because Belle Valley had not signed an agreement that would have required us to turn over all of our assets to him. (see below for background information on the state-allocated funds that are solely provided to volunteer fire departments in Pennsylvania)
Chief Cliff's use of language in the past has foreshadowed the direction he has wanted to go, and now he is foreshadowing his intent to commandeer the equipment and apparatus owned by Belle Valley Fire Department by stating in his Sept. 1, 2026, press release:
"Millcreek Township contends that the equipment and apparatus [owned by Belle Valley Fire Department] belong to the residents of Millcreek Township and would be best utilized in response to emergency situations by the Millcreek Fire Department."
Chief Cliff's clear intent to commandeer Belle Valley's equipment and apparatus is also supported by his recent correspondence to Belle Valley in which he stated that a demand of the Township is to renegotiate an agreement between the Township and Belle Valley to address the Township's unrestricted use of BVFD's fire house and equipment.
That demand is not a minor administrative matter. Belle Valley is a nonprofit organization with a fiduciary responsibility to safeguard the equipment, trucks, station and other assets that have been purchased by or donated to the department. Simply handing those assets over to another entity raises serious fiduciary concerns.
So, when the Township says it is "willing to work with Belle Valley," the obvious question is: Why is the Township threatening the department's funding unless it agrees to give away assets it has a legal and fiduciary obligation to protect?
That is not what good-faith collaboration looks like.
Monday's letter did not occur in a vacuum. It is the latest in a series of actions under Chief Cliff that have raised serious questions about his treatment of Millcreek's volunteer fire departments, including:
- The original purpose of the paid department. When township supervisors created the paid department in January 2023, the stated purpose was to provide supplemental coverage alongside the existing volunteer fire departments (meeting minute link, page 3). Since then, there has been growing concern that the direction has shifted toward consolidating fire services under the paid department and Chief Cliff at the expense of the volunteer departments.
- Coverage in the Belle Valley area. Belle Valley was informed by Chief Cliff that there would be no paid coverage at the station on Old French Road assigned to the Belle Valley area over a weekend in August, but the duration of the lack of coverage last nearly 20 days. Any paid response would have come from Kearsarge, resulting in an estimated 10- to 15-minute response time to our community. No paid apparatus was staged nearby to provide coverage. This adds to a growing list of concerns among Belle Valley and others that there are staffing issues within the paid department.
- Vehicle Loans without adequate insurance for repairs. In May and June 2025, Belle Valley loaned Chief Cliff a pump truck but reclaimed the apparatus after their attorney advised that the Township should enter into a formal agreement governing the arrangement so that any damages would be appropriately covered by insurance. Although the township is required by PA law to provide a minimum amount of liability insurance for rigs belonging to volunteer fire departments, that coverage is limited; repairing damage to these vehicles can exceed that range significantly.
- The department sent the contract to Chief Cliff last year, but to date, it has not been returned as signed and executed. Just before the Aug. 4 National Night Out, Chief Cliff did request to borrow one of Belle Valley's trucks, but the department declined since he has not signed that vehicle contract, which would ensure that the volunteer department's truck would be covered for any damages. Belle Valley has been informed by at least one other volunteer department that has loaned Chief Cliff rigs that the trucks have come back damaged, including a ladder truck that was returned with the ladder mechanism damaged.
- Dispatch patterns. Dispatch records over the past decade provide important context. From 2013 through 2019, Belle Valley was dispatched to a relatively consistent number of calls, averaging approximately 809 calls annually. Call volume declined during COVID, as it did for many emergency service organizations, before beginning to level out again in 2022. Since the formation of the paid department, however, Belle Valley's dispatch numbers have declined significantly:
- 2013-2019 average: approximately 809 calls annually;
- 2022: 522 dispatches;
- 2023: 404 dispatches;
- 2024: 341 dispatches; and
- As of July 24, 2026: 243 dispatches
Belle Valley's current dispatch volume is less than half of its pre-COVID annual average.
There have also been specific incidents that raise questions about how dispatch decisions are being made. In one instance, an emergency call occurred at the Belle Valley fire station, yet Belle Valley itself was not dispatched. In other instances, the City of Erie has been requested to provide mutual aid within Belle Valley's service territory rather than Belle Valley being dispatched as the primary agency.
We also understand that calls that would ordinarily be dispatched to Belle Valley have, in some instances, instead been routed to the City of Erie, requiring Erie to pay overtime for responses into Millcreek Township.
Belle Valley cannot speak to Millcreek Fire Services' decision-making regarding dispatch protocols. However, the significant reduction in calls has had real consequences for volunteer morale and recruitment. Volunteer fire service remains an important avenue for people who want to train, serve their neighbors, and contribute to emergency response without pursuing firefighting as a full-time career.
Chief Cliff's decision to issue a threat, impose deadlines, and then immediately take that threat to the media is not good-faith collaboration. It is an attempt to apply public pressure to a volunteer fire department that has spent nearly 90 years serving Millcreek Township.
The Belle Valley Fire Department will not be intimidated or threatened into surrendering our department, our assets or our voice.
We, again, call on the Millcreek Board of Supervisors to come to the table and have a serious discussion about returning the paid fire department to its original purpose: supplementing the Township's volunteer fire departments, not replacing them or forcing them to surrender their assets.
We are willing to work with Township leaders who approach the issue in good faith. What we will not accept are threats delivered in writing and then immediately delivered to reporters.
Chief Cliff's decision to issue this threat and then publicly distribute it should concern every volunteer firefighter in Millcreek Township, and every resident who depends on them.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Pennsylvania law is clear about the purpose of Volunteer Firefighters' Relief funds, which are administered through the state Auditor General. The General Assembly created the program "to ensure...that funds shall be available for the assistance to and protection of volunteer firefighters." 35 Pa.C.S. § 7413. The law further defines a Volunteer Firefighters' Relief Association as an organization formed "primarily to afford financial protection to volunteer firefighters against the consequences of misfortune suffered as a result of their participation in the fire service." 35 Pa.C.S. § 7412.
The law also strictly limits how these funds may be used. Under 35 Pa.C.S. § 7416(f), relief funds are dedicated to the safety and protection of volunteer firefighters through expenditures such as protective equipment, training, insurance, rescue equipment, and other authorized purposes. The statute does not authorize these funds to be used to pay the salaries, wages, benefits, pensions, overtime, or other compensation of a paid municipal fire department, regardless of any locally signed agreements. They are dedicated state funds intended to protect volunteer firefighters.
When the Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance 2023-1 creating the Millcreek Township Fire Department, it expressly recognized Belle Valley, Kearsarge, West Lake, and West Ridge as the Township's volunteer fire departments. The ordinance further provides that "[t]he governance of the individual volunteer departments...will not usurp or otherwise affect the conduct of the volunteer departments as presently exercised by their duly elected officers."
Belle Valley has remained true to its mission of serving the residents of Millcreek Township.
