Friday, June 25, 1999
Fire dept. grows with Colerain
BY LEW MOORES
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLERAIN TOWNSHIP — Chris Hopkins can remember when the area was decidedly rural, when there were woods to play in and a single school bus was all that was needed to pick up all the kids in the neighborhood, a dozen or so.
That has changed and is changing. The Dunlap area of the township is growing, and subdivisions have sprouted where there was once open land.
“The places where I used to play as a kid in the woods is now housing development,” said Mr. Hopkins, a lieutenant with the Colerain Township Department of Fire and EMS. “This part of the township has taken off.”
Better quarters
That is why, when the township's police department moved out of the cramped headquarters on old Colerain Road, at the corner of Kemper Road, a year ago, the fire department not only remained, but remodeled part of the building.
The renovation work, which cost about $22,000, ended last month. The interior was gutted, walls came down, new walls went up.
The work has made for roomier quarters for the firefighters who work out of the building. It began as a fire station in 1954. The renovations added a new sleeping area, exercise room and offices.
Since 1988, the building had been the headquarters for the police department and served as a satellite station for the fire department.
When the growing police department moved out and into the new township government complex on Spring dale Road last July, the fire department satellite station remained.
Indeed, the fire department had to reassure neighbors in the Dunlap neighborhood that it would not abandon the satellite station.
“This station caters to the rural population out here,” said Dave Jennings, a township firefighter.
“But there is also a lot of new development out here.”
Here to stay
“They expect the same service,” said Lt. Hopkins. “When people dial 911 they want trained, competent people there.”
The station, one of two satellite fire stations in the township (the other is at Springdale and Thompson roads), is staffed 24 hours a day, usually with at least three firefighters, and an EMS-equipped engine company.
The increased roominess of the station would mean there is space sufficient for an expansion of personnel and equipment in the future.
“It will mean a more professional department and the ability to deliver (more) service,” Lt. Hopkins said. “If some day they (township) go that route, it's already there.”
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