Sunday, March 26, 2000
Liberty Twp. trustees boost fire staffing
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP - Beginning Saturday there will be eight firefighters on duty 12 hours a day, seven days a week in Liberty Township.
Trustees last week decided to move forward with a staffing plan that eventually will put full-time firefighters on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the township's two fire stations. The township already has two firefighter/paramedics on duty around the clock seven days a week.
The first step is to schedule part-time firefighters to cover 12-hour weekend shifts that run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., said Liberty Township Fire Chief Paul Stumpf. They will augment the two firefighter/paramedics already on duty at the Yankee Road headquarters. The overnight shifts will continue to be staffed by volunteers who respond from home and earn $12 per call.
“We'd like to gradually convert to a full-time staff,” said Chief Stumpf, one of two full-time staff members. “Between work and family commitments it's harder to schedule people. We're getting additional demands put on us on the weekends with all the community events.”
The beefed-up staffing will cost the township about $60,000 through the end of the year, Chief Stumpf said. It will be paid for through a five-year, 3-mill levy approved by voters in November that should raise about $912,000 annually.
“We have a very difficult time (getting volunteers), especially during the summer season. They got together (firefighters) and worked it out so everybody's happy,” said Bob Shelley, chairman of the Liberty Township board of trustees. “We (trustees) try not to interfere or try to micromanage if the coverage is there.”
The department has a roster of 65, which includes volunteers, part-time firefighters, paramedics, the chief and one assistant fire chief. Last year the department responded to about 850 requests for emergency medical services and 450 fire calls, the chief said.
That compares with 405 medical and 198 fire calls in 1991. The township's population has increased from about 9,240 in the 1990 census to an estimated 16,472 in 1998, according to figures from the Butler County Planning Department.
The extra staffing should help decrease response time, which now averages 5-9 minutes, depending on location, Chief Stumpf said. With the opening of the Michael A. Fox Highway, the township has more responsibility. It also will respond to accidents on a seven-mile stretch along Interstate 75 that Union Township and Monroe departments had covered through mutual aid with Liberty Township.
Chief Stumpf said the department is still studying opening a third station in the township's southwest quadrant. Several sites are being explored and one should be chosen this summer, Mr. Shelley said.
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