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WARREN TOWNSHIP -- Assistant Fire Chief David King said there was a recent fire call where he was the only firefighter battling the blaze until mutual aid from another community arrived.
King told township trustees this week the lack of shift coverage at the fire department has become very challenging, with the department relying more and more on mutual aid from other fire departments who also are often understaffed.
"Many fire departments are half-staffed and difficult to cover all the calls. This has become an issue," King said.
He said this week there were three calls that came in around the same time. King said as staff was transporting a patient to the hospital, they received another call and had the Lordstown Fire Department provide mutual aid.
He said the other departments, such as Braceville, Lordstown or Newton Falls, that help Warren Township often have only one or two people on staff, if any.
King said of the fire department roster, only five live in the township, with all others living in neighboring communities, making it hard for them to always come back to the township.
"I had to begin to fight a fire last week all by myself until mutual aid arrived. I arrived at the scene by myself and started fighting the fire. It is not safe, but you do what you got to do. Right now our departments are helping each other the best we can," King said.
He said what many departments are finding is individuals just want to be emergency medical technicians and not firefighters or vice versa.
"Sadly, this is a dying career field. Champion has a full-time station, and they have had trouble bringing people in," he said.
King said while many departments want people to be certified and trained in firefighting and emergency medical service, Warren Township, as a volunteer department, will hire individuals with at least one of the certification areas. The fire department in January had 111 calls, with 79 for emergency medical service and nine for fires.
Officials said the fire department gave mutual aid assistance nine times and received mutual aid 42 times from other departments. EMS backup pay was $570. The department in January had 67% coverage of shifts with the assistance of off-duty response.
CADET PROGRAM
King said Warren Township has started a cadet program where teenagers ages 16 to 18 can learn about firefighting and then become a firefighter at age 18.
He said there is also a firefighter/emergency medical service program at the Trumbull Career & Technical Center. King said departments are hopeful that those in such programs will become interested in the profession and be able to fill positions.
"These programs provide the experience and also teach the fundamentals of firefighting," King said.
He said cadets at ages 16 and 17 can ride to fire scenes or emergency scenes but are limited on how they can assist until they turn 18 and become certified.
Trustees at the meeting approved Brooklyn Kohn for the cadet program. They also approved JoAnn Hofman as a part-time EMT at $16 per hour, not to exceed 1,872 hours per year, and Kelsey Higgins to the volunteer roster with the stipulation that she complete fire school and is enrolled before the end of a one-year probationary period.
Trustee Ryan Yoho said the township is working on hiring more EMTs.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
In other business, trustees approved establishing a township planning/advisory commission.
Trustee Tyler Wilson, who serves as zoning inspector, said the commission will prepare a survey for the public on what they want the township to be like in the future for a new comprehensive plan. The current plan is from the 1980s.
Wilson said the survey is in progress and has not been sent out yet.
"We needed to get this board in place," he said.
He said the Trumbull Planning Commission will assist the township on the plan starting in the summer. The township commission will include trustees and residents.
Resident Darryl Parker said with the Kimberly-Clark plant under construction, officials need to promote the township, such as with "Welcome to Warren Township" signs.
"We need to be discussing fixing our township from the outside in because people drive through Warren Township when heading to Warren, Niles or Austintown," he said.
Parker said it is also important to educate the public on the proposed property tax reform issue that is expected to appear on the general election ballot.
"It is important that we get the information out to the public because if this issue passes, we stand to lose the township as a whole. The safety forces, the schools and the township will all be affected. We are a semi-rural community, so this will also affect farmers," Parker said. "With loss of property taxes, it will deplete our safety forces and our school. The township will cease to exist."