WARREN TOWNSHIP — Following a recent meeting with Bristol and Champion officials, Warren Township trustees are reviewing options for mutual aid between the three communities for fire service.

Trustee Chairman Ed Anthony said at Tuesday’s meeting that discussion among trustees and fire chiefs centered on what can be done for emergency medical service with a shortage of staff to cover shifts at the fire departments.

“We are discussing ways to best be able to assist each other. There is a small pool of EMTs and paramedics,” Anthony said.

He said Warren Township had difficulty staffing all shifts at the fire department and noted in December the fire department had 51% coverage of shifts with the assistance of off-duty response.

“The 51% is not good. Half the time last month, the fire department was unmanned. That is alarming,” Anthony said.

Anthony said in 2025, Champion made 192 mutual aid calls to Warren Township and Warren Township made 14 mutual aid calls to Champion.

He said officials from the three townships plan to meet again to see what can be done to benefit all three townships.

“There is no easy answer to this. We have a small pool of paramedics and EMTs and we can’t afford to have a full-time fire department,” Anthony said.

The Warren Township Fire Department responded to 1,115 calls in 2025. Of that total, 849 were medical and 56 were fire calls, with 77 vehicle crashes.

In 2025, the department received 420 mutual aid call assists from other fire departments and gave 76 mutual aid assists to other communities.

Warren Township Deputy Fire Chief William Kohn said in December, the fire department received 33 mutual aid assists and gave six mutual aid assists to other communities. There were also five calls to the Trumbull Correctional Institution and total bills for service to TCI at $76,980 for the year. He said the payout for EMS mutual aid for 2025 was $14,780.

Kohn said on some of the calls, the township fire department did respond to a fire call and needed mutual aid assistance from other departments to battle the fire.

The trustees approved having a cadet program set up at the fire department.

Kohn, who said he took part in a previous cadet program, said many firefighters started in a cadet program, which trains individuals for future careers in firefighting and EMS.

Kohn said plans are to host a safety day to recruit and train interested cadets.

Anthony said the meeting with Bristol and Champion provided a lot of information, including that Champion is finding it difficult to provide mutual aid when it has just two or three firefighters at times at its station.

He said Champion officials are hoping passage of an additional fire levy on the May ballot will help them with staffing and other needs.

Anthony said Champion officials have faced challenges with all the mutual aid to Bristol and Warren townships when those departments are not staffed.

He said the idea of agreements for EMS from Champion to Bristol and Warren townships was brought up just as Champion has a contract for EMS mutual aid to be provided to Southington.

Warren Township Trustee Ryan Yoho said there may be an option of having a contact to pay for the services that are needed.

“The need for more manpower is the main issue for the three fire departments. The shortage of staff is an issue everywhere. We are making a hard effort to get as many EMS personnel in our department and bring up our percentage of shift coverage,” he said.

At the meeting, trustees approved hiring Michael Higgins and Roger Bruce as part-time emergency medical technicians each at $16 per hour, effective Saturday.

Kohn said the Warren Township Fire Department, in addition to Champion, also receives mutual aid from Newton Falls, Braceville and Lordstown fire departments.

He said the department will hire people who are certified only as EMTs for the duty crew at the station while other departments may require additional certification areas.

Fire Chief Joseph Natali, who did not attend the meeting, said it has been difficult to staff the fire department, noting it is a part-time department with 15 people working other jobs. He said he tries to have two people on staff for different shifts.

He said Warren Township received mutual aid 29 times from Newton Falls and gave 11, and received 62 instances of mutual aid from Lordstown and gave 10.