Tensions peaked at a North Versailles commissioners meeting last Thursday when West Wilmerding Volunteer Fire Chief Daniel Duncan was thrown out by police after vocally protesting a new township policy that requires more training, more stringent criminal background checks and greater financial oversight for volunteer fire departments.

The West Wilmerding and Crestas volunteer departments were taken off-line June 23 for refusing to sign the policy agreement, which was put into effect in May, and no longer are dispatched.

The township's third department, North Versailles, signed the agreement in May and is fully operational.

Crestas Chief Bernard Furby said his department still responds to calls. Leslie Michelle, the attorney for the Crestas Fire Department, said that department's disagreement with the township was minor and about wording. Crestas is expected to sign the agreement soon.

The township said the policy is intended to ensure the tax money the departments receive -- about $200,000 split among the three -- is spent wisely.

The policy outlines how departments are to make purchases and requires three bids for purchases of more than $2,500.

It also aims to improve the performance of the departments by requiring training above the state minimum and to keep township residents safe from firefighters with criminal histories who might enter their homes during a fire.

"These guys go into your house, put out a fire," said township Fire Commissioner Bryan Dull, who helped write the policy.

"We don't want someone who just got out of jail on robbery."

They want to ensure that firefighters who respond to fires are sober, and the policy includes a strict "no tolerance" policy for firefighters who show up to a scene drunk or under the influence of drugs.

In December, West Wilmerding firefighter Shawn Dixon was charged with driving drunk in a firetruck he was not licensed to drive to the scene of a fire. Police said cocaine also was found in his wallet in the truck.

But Chief Duncan said he believes the policy is less about keeping the township safe and more about politics. In 2001, the township tried to force the three departments to consolidate.

"They're just looking for a reason to shut us down," he said. "I've been in there 15 years, and probably 10 of them we've been fighting with the commissioners."

He said that politicians without firefighting experience should not be formulating policies on how the departments should operate.

"We do this stuff for free and we risk our lives doing it," he said. "The township should have no say in this at all ... it's not about public safety."

If his department signed the agreement, Chief Duncan would be disqualified from department membership because the agreement bars anyone from being a firefighter who has been convicted of more serious misdemeanors or felonies in the past 10 years.

Court records show that Chief Duncan was convicted of a felony drug sale charge in April 2001. He was charged with driving under the influence in November, but that case has not been decided.

He said his opposition to the agreement is not personal.

"My membership voted to not sign it and it actually has nothing to do with me," he said.

The West Wilmerding Volunteer Fire Department's own policy bars anyone with a felony conviction in the past 10 years from applying. But Chief Duncan said that because he applied before the conviction, the policy did not apply to him.

He also said the department voted to let him stay on after he explained the situation.

Chief Duncan said he believes the policy mandates unnecessary training, and he does not believe that current members should have to submit to criminal background checks.

Chief Duncan said he will continue fighting the agreement and plans to hire an attorney to file an injunction.

"We feel that what they're doing is wrong and it's also leaving our neighborhood in danger," he said.