Wednesday, February 09, 2000
Fire department cuts its response times in half
BY CINDI ANDREWS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — Voters' 1998 decision to double the budget of the Lebanon Fire Department has begun to show results.
It's evident in the firehouse on West Silver Street, which now bustles with a weekday staff of six firefighters and emergency medical technicians instead of three.
It's evident off Ohio 48 by the Ohio State Highway Patrol post. The casual passerby might see only a vacant building, but southern Lebanon residents can look forward to it as a second fire station.
Faster response
Most critically, the fire department's expanded budget is evident in the results: When the firehouse is staffed, the first truck can reach a fire or other emergency in an average of four minutes instead of eight, Fire Chief Michael Hannigan said.
“It is going to make a difference, it really is,” said the 15-year Lebanon chief.
$1 million budget
A 4.5-mill levy passed in November 1998 went into effect last month, collecting $158 annually from the owner of a $100,000 home, an increase of $53. It expands the fire department's budget from $500,000 to $1 million annually, Chief Hannigan said.
In the past, two EMTs and Chief Hannigan staffed the firehouse during the day, and volunteers — paid by the hour only when they were on a call — were relied upon to fight fires and handle all nighttime calls.
A growing population
But as Lebanon has burgeoned — from a population of 10,461 in 1990 to an estimated 13,800 today — the demands on the fire department have, too.
“By golly, the town has grown so,” said resident Mary Etta Meloy. “How are they going to protect all those people?”
The answer: with a second full-time staffer hired in November, Capt. Krista Wyatt; part-time firefighters who work 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; and part-time EMTs who staff the firehouse 24 hours a day.
Additionally, Chief Hannigan's plans include a new fire engine, two more ambulances and a second fire station to help cover the south side of the city. The building for that has been bought, but it still must be renovated.
Mrs. Meloy saw the fire department in action last month, when a neighbor's house on Southline Drive caught on fire.
“They were great across the street,” Mrs. Meloy said. “We were real pleased with what they did.”
Chief Hannigan pointed to that fire — which started in the kitchen after the home's occupants left — as an instance when firefighters were able to get to the scene in four minutes because they were already at the department, instead of having to come from home or work.
“By the time the second truck got there, we had the fire knocked down,” he said.
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