All fire response from West End Fire Company No. 2 in Palmerton has been halted, effective immediately.

Members of the fire company received a text message from directors on Monday.

“All response from West End Fire Company No. 2 has been halted pending reorganization. No member is to respond in any capacity to any calls. This is effective for all firefighters and fire police. All pagers and equipment is to be returned to the West End Fire Company immediately. All social hall activities are unaffected.”

Contacted this morning, borough Manager Rodger Danielson attempted to address the situation.

“West End Fire Company has voluntarily withdrawn their services and has withdrawn from the Palmerton Fire Department,” Danielson said. “They have advised their own membership not to respond to any emergency calls.”

Danielson added, “The borough will continue to provide all the emergency services that we can out of the municipal fire station.”

A post on the fire company's Facebook page says, "The West End Fire Company is not closing. We are suspending response due a safety concern over the lack of manpower on both the administrative and firefighting side, pending reorganization. This was discussed with the Municipal Fire Department to ensure coverage in the community would not be diminished."