Laid off firefighters start returning in Boardman

BOARDMAN — When six-year township fire department veterans Gary Hemphill and Jason Osborne were laid off last February along with seven of their coworkers, they weren’t sure they would ever be called back.

But Friday morning, both men were back at work at the main fire station after voters this week approved a 2.2-mill police and fire levy. The South Avenue fire station, closed for most shifts since the layoff, also reopened Friday.

Four more furloughed firefighters will return to work today and the township plans to hire up to 10 new police officers. Three other firefighters, nine road department workers and several police civilian employees remain on layoff status.

“It’s great,” Hemphill said of his return.

Both he and Osborne say they can’t compare their feelings the night layoffs were announced to those when Tuesday’s levy passed.

“It’s going from the lowest point of your life to a high point,” Hemphill said.

“You go from having a job you’ve had for years to nothing and then to having a full-time job again,” Osborne said.

Read more in Saturday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com