Damascus fire official says bad roads slow response

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The president of the Damascus Volunteer Fire Department complained to the Mahoning County commissioners that deteriorated local roads are slowing down his department’s response times.

Thomas Rhodes of Goshen Township said emergency vehicles sometimes are limited to 5 to 10 mph due to poor road conditions.

“I hate going to somebody and the house is burning down and saying: ‘Sorry, I couldn’t get there’” in a timely manner, he told the commissioners Thursday.

Rapid fire-department response is necessary to keep insurance costs reasonable, he added.

Anthony Traficanti, chairman of the commissioners, told Rhodes a road maintenance summit meeting for representatives of all levels of government soon will take place in Jackson Township.

“Our crews are out every day” repairing roads with help from day-reporting inmates, said county Engineer Patrick Ginnetti.

“We had probably one of the worst winters we’ve had in decades,” Ginnetti added.

“We’re fighting every day, looking for dollars” for road repair and maintenance, he said.

But he added: “It’s not enough. We’re not going to touch all the roads that we need to touch.”

He concluded: “We’re doing everything we can with the manpower and budgets we have.”