COLUMBIANA CO. Residents: Don't join fire district

Council members said discussion of a joint fire district is in the early stages.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Abolishing the city's full-time fire department and forming a joint fire district with Perry Township is just an option, not a done deal, city council members say.
Nearly 200 people packed city council chambers and the adjacent hallway Tuesday to let the council know they don't want to lose the full-time department.
At a special meeting June 17, council voted unanimously to explore formation of a fire district with Perry Township, eliminating salary and benefits of 16 full-time Salem firefighters. Council members have said the move would save about $700,000 in the first year.
Council members said the discussion of a fire district is just that at this point: a discussion. Residents wanted an answer Tuesday, but council said the discussion is in the early stages.
Suggested levy
Some citizens at Tuesday's meeting suggested a levy be placed before voters in November, but a safety levy for police, fire and other departments, not just the fire department.
Firefighters said council had the opportunity twice to hire provisional firefighters to work temporarily while one firefighter was on sick leave and another was called to active military duty. They said council instead let firefighters work overtime, which cost $200,000.
Council members said they approved the overtime because they didn't know the provisional hiring was an option. Firefighters pointed out minutes from previous meetings that stated council was informed of the option.
Residents as well as current and former firefighters spoke to the importance of maintaining a full-time department. Several said they had family members whose homes would have been lost to fires.
Response time concern
Firefighters said loss of a full-time department would reduce response time, and the first four minutes of firefighters' arrival at a fire are critical.
John Tarleton, a retired Salem Fire Department captain, said taxpayers have already paid for firefighters to be trained as emergency medical services first responders, then council recently passed a resolution to limit firefighters to respond to medical emergencies only after a squad arrives or police request their aid.
Tarleton said the policy creates a delayed response time.
"Council ties our hands and then says we need a fire district because our fire department doesn't do anything," Tarleton said.
He concluded by saying that eliminating the fire department isn't the change that is needed, but rather, residents can make the change by voting in new council members.
Linda Ammon of the Retail Wholesale Department Store Union said that although she and most of the 650 employees of Fresh Mark on the city's south side don't live in the city, they pay city taxes.
"I want to be able to go back to my union membership and say that if we have a fire at the plant, the Salem firefighters will be right there as they always have been."