Canfield Joint Fire District boasts new state-of-the-art facility
By Justin Wier
CANFIELD
Less than a year after the groundbreaking, the new Cardinal Joint Fire District station on Herbert Road is online.
The station opened at 8 a.m. Monday.
District Fire Chief Don Hutchison said the station reduces response times in areas in the north and west of Canfield from about eight minutes to four minutes or less.
“Eight minutes used to be a great time,” Hutchison said. “We’re looking for four and under. We don’t always do it, but that’s our goal.”
This can be crucial, Hutchison said, as the prevalence of plastic building materials have increased both the temperature of fires and the rate at which they grow.
The district arrived at the location of its third station after several studies both internal and external determined it was the most remote area in the township.
The joint fire district also has stations at 104 Lisbon St. in the center of Canfield city and 5007 Messerly Road near the northeast corner of the district.
The new $2.6 million station was funded by a 1.25-mill levy approved in 2014. The levy raises $627,854 annually. The levy also has allowed officials to hire three new full-time employees. A firefighter, paramedic and engineer are on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The 12,300-square-foot facility boasts features such as a decontamination room and on-site training capabilities.
The decontamination room has its own entry and allows officers to shower and clean their gear if they come into contact with things such as blood or opioids during a call.
“It’s becoming a standard to have a room like this,” said Capt. Conner O’Halloran, who is in charge of the station. “The separate entrance [makes sure] we’re not coming in and contaminating the rest of the station.”
It also allows firefighters to wash carcinogens off their skin. People are becoming more aware of the cancer risks associated with firefighting, O’Halloran said.
The garage houses two firetrucks, and O’Halloran said an ambulance may be in the station’s future.
A 60-person training room gives the district the capability to do its training in-house. The station also is designed so firefighters can run drills using ladders and rappelling or simulate working in confined spaces.
In the past, they’ve relied on vacant houses or buildings at the fairground and vocational school, Hutchison said.
O’Halloran, who is the district’s training officer, said the training room will help firefighters keep up to date with increasing amounts of state-mandated continuing education. It also can accommodate public first-aid and CPR training.
The station will serve as the district’s headquarters with offices for the chief, deputy chief and fiscal officer.
John Morvay, Canfield city councilman and president of the Canfield Joint Fire District board, said the station allows the district’s firefighters to do their jobs even better.
“The facility is magnificent,” he said. “I believe it should win some kind of architectural award – it’s just that well thought out.”
The process took five to six years, Morvay said, and Andy Skrobola, a former city councilman and member of the fire district board who died in 2015, was instrumental to the planning and funding.
“I just wish Andy were here to see this beautiful facility,” he said. “He would be very proud.”