The new year will bring about the merger of three volunteer fire companies.

The Eastern Berks Fire Department, comprised of the Goodwill Fire Co. in Bally; the Volunteer Barto Fire Co. and the Keystone Fire Co. of Bechtelsville, will begin service at 4 p.m. on Jan. 3, ending a three-year process that involved negotiations, inventory and legal approvals.

The fire companies will combine their strengths and resources to better provide for the communities they serve, officials said.

Those communities consist of the boroughs of Bally and Bechtelsville and the townships of Washington, District, and Pike, as well as nearby portions of Upper Hanover and Douglass townships.

The three fire stations will remain open with Jeffrey Reitnauer, the current chief of the Bechtelsville Fire Co., serving as chief of the new department.

An engine, a tanker truck, a brush truck and a new light attack truck will be housed at Station 1 in Barto. Station 2 in Bally will house an engine, two tankers, a rescue truck, a brush truck and a utility van. An engine, an attack engine and a tanker truck will be located at Station 3 in Bechtelsville.

The social quarters at the Bally and Bechtelsville stations will also remain active and open, with their respective names remaining the same, officials said.