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Canfield Fair security, medical services ready to go
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
CANFIELD
The 353 acres that make up the Canfield Fairgrounds temporarily become a veritable city in late summer — and one that is fully equipped with fire, police, medical and other emergency services.
“We have everything a city would have,” said James C. Evans, who directs the fair’s police department, and is also a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge. “It’s like a big-city operation for two weeks.”
And in this veritable city, police have dealt with “almost anything you could think of” over the years, Evans said.
In his 16 years spent working with the Canfield Fair, and as part of its 17-member board of directors, he’s encountered numerous arguments, incidents of domestic abuse and accusations of theft at the fairgrounds, along with “our share of felonies and misdemeanors,” he said.
Evans said members of the Canfield Fair police force report to the fairgrounds before the fair even begins, around the same time that rides, then usually in pieces, and concession stands begin to fill the 178 acres of midway. Some also stay until the majority of people have left for the year, simply to guard against theft, he added.
The fair’s police force consists of about 130 professional police officers recruited from all over Northeast Ohio, Evans said. All are sworn in under the laws that govern agricultural societies in Ohio.
At the fair, though, their hours and responsibilities vary, he said. Some officers don uniforms and are armed, while others are dressed in plain clothes.
Both full-time and part-time officers also are strategically placed around the fairgrounds. For example, Evans said, the 4-H area typically has a minimal amount of problems, so officers — particularly the “younger, more durable” ones — are concentrated in other places, like near the rides where “the younger generation gathers.”
Planning for fwair security is an ongoing effort that stretches throughout the year, Evans said, adding that his greatest emphasis has been working to continually increase security, specifically through multiplying the number of “real” or commissioned and police-academy-trained officers.
“We’re in good shape and ready to roll,” Evans said. “We’d appreciate good weather. That helps. It prevents people from getting irritated with one another.”
Andrew Frost Jr. — who directs the fair’s fire department, emergency medical services, and Red Cross, along with the International and Medical buildings — said he’s also made “a lot of changes” since becoming involved with the fair 10 years ago. Fire services for the fair are provided by the Cardinal Joint Fire District.
Frost, who retired last year after two decades as chief of the Austintown Fire Department, said his proudest fair-related accomplishment is purchasing three small ambulances, by way of grant funding. Thanks to the ambulances, the average response time for a medical issue on the fairgrounds is less than three minutes, Frost said.
He added that anyone with a medical issue while at the Canfield Fair can either call 911, or visit one of two medical-response centers, located near the racetrack and in front of the Medical Building.
Much like the police force, medical services have responded to a host of problems, primarily heat exhaustion, falls and bee stings. About 900 people are treated for medical issues at the fair each year, with about 20 of those people being transported to the hospital, Frost said.
“Our EMTs and paramedics — they’ve seen it all,” he said, adding that last year, a baby was delivered on the fairgrounds. “It is a small city. When you get 100,000-some people together at one time, there’s going to be issues.”