Somerset officials said they were stunned last month to receive a $900 water delivery bill from the Bentleyville Volunteer Fire Department for an Easter Sunday house fire.

But it wasn't due to a water shortage or rising fuel prices.

The bill stems from a feud that's been going on for more than 18 years, leaving a trail of hard feelings and bitter resentment.

It's got all the drama of an old-fashioned vendetta, with backroom dealing that could make even the most jaded congressmen wince.

Bentleyville Fire Chief Ron Sicchitano Sr. said his department billed Somerset according to the terms of a registered letter sent in 1990, advising the township that if his department answered fire calls, the township would be billed.

The letter was prompted by a split between the parties. Since 1919, Bentleyville's volunteer force had been providing Somerset with fire protection through an annual contract and fee. Somerset also contracted with other neighboring departments, but Bentleyville provided the primary protection.

Each year, the Bentleyville department would increase its fee for fire service. But in 1990, a newly elected panel of three Somerset supervisors denied their requests for a $9,000 annual fee and for a five-year contract.

The new board members contracted with the neighboring Ellsworth Volunteer Fire Department. Bentleyville fire equipment never again entered Somerset until the Easter Sunday fire.

One of the new Somerset supervisors in 1990 who still serves on the board today, Dave Blackburn, said the township couldn't afford the rate hike and supervisors didn't appreciate the annual request for more funding.

"If 100 percent of the people paid their taxes, we might have had the money, but we're lucky to get 70 or 80 percent," he said.

Somerset has been contracting with Fallowfield, Valley Inn and Ellsworth fire departments for $4,500 each a year, or a total of $13,500 for fire protection. This year, Somerset voluntarily raised its donation to $6,000 for each department.

"We gave them a raise, they didn't ask for one," said Mr. Blackburn.

Ellsworth also opened a satellite station with a fire truck in Somerset, but it closed earlier this year when manpower dwindled to the point that the department could no longer afford insurance and utility costs.

Water needs to be hauled by tanker to most structure fires in Somerset because much of the township is served by wells or springs, so when Ellsworth fire Chief Dave Lambert realized he would need more water to fight the house fire on Scott Road March 23, he said he called on several neighboring departments -- and Bentleyville -- to respond with water tankers.

Bentleyville arrived with its 1,800-gallon tanker, but the driver required a delivery confirmation signature, which an assistant chief reluctantly signed, Chief Lambert said.

Chief Sicchitano said his department submitted the information to a company it uses to bill insurance companies, which calculated the cost of the equipment rental and sent a bill to Somerset.

Mr. Blackburn said the township doesn't plan to pay because it did not request the water, and it will send a letter from township Solicitor Pat Boyer explaining their position to the fire department.

Sending invoices to insurers for vehicle accidents and structure fires isn't unusual for a fire department.

But to bill for the use of equipment during a fire is unheard of in Pennsylvania, said state Rep. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, the assistant chief of the Canonsburg Volunteer Fire Department and former head of the Washington County Firemen's Association.

The rift between the Bentleyville department and Somerset was "frustrating" at the time, Mr. Solobay said, and the turf battles that have since ensued don't help the image of firefighters.

Chief Sicchitano, though, said the township should have expected to be billed.

"If you're fired, do you want to go to your job for nothing?" said Chief Sicchitano, 63, who has been with the department for 40 years and has been chief for 15 years.

"It's all over politics," he said about the squabble over the bill.

The incident in March is part of a larger issue between fire departments in the area, which do not share equipment or train together because of quarrels going back 50 years or more.

"If you asked anyone today how it started, no one would even know," said Paul Vahaly, owner of Bentworth Ambulance, who said attempts have been made over the years to patch up relations between fire departments in the Ellsworth, Bentleyville and Cokeburg areas, but to little avail.

"We try to stay out of it," said Mr. Vahaly, who works with all of the nearby departments.

On Memorial Day last year, an apartment building blaze that Chief Lambert said was "probably the biggest fire that Ellsworth Borough has ever seen" caused further friction between the departments because Bentleyville was not called to the scene.

Though it was only about a mile from the fire, Chief Lambert declined to call Bentleyville because he said he wanted to preserve at least one local unit in case of fire elsewhere in the area. The apartment fire was using all local resources, including personnel and equipment from 32 departments, he said.

The Bentleyville department, with 38 active members, was called on to increase the water supply to the fire by pumping water from Bentleyville into Ellsworth, but resentment over the issue still simmers.

The Ellsworth department, which includes 45 active members, is one of the youngest in the county, with most officers in their 30s, including Chief Lambert, who is 32 years old.

Chief Lambert said he has no old scores to settle with neighboring fire departments and wants everyone to get along.

Officials said dirty tricks and nasty behavior has run the gamut, from exclusionary tactics to celebrations when the home of an opponent caught fire.

There have been more vicious accusations over the years, including denial of medical assistance to accident victims depending on geography and even attempts to hamper emergency services.

And the latest volley suggests the feud won't be ending soon.

Mr. Solobay said he would like to see a sit-down meeting between the parties soon, "before something terrible happens," he said.

"We're all one community," he said of firefighters. "We're all friends and family for the most part."

Longtime Somerset Auditor Nellie Chester said the infighting was "ridiculous," and said she was concerned that pride and resentment might one day spill into a safety problem.

"These are lives that we're talking about," she said.