By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

To slash critical minutes from their fire departments' response times, five Mill Creek Valley communities - Lockland, Glendale, Woodlawn, Lincoln Heights and Elmwood Place - might form a joint fire district.

Woodlawn Firefighter/EMT Brendon Arrick, center, crouches atop the hose deck of ladder apparatus Quint 96. Center rear is Woodlawn Firefighter/EMT David Brown. (Michael Snyder photo)

A committee of fire and elected officials from those communities is working on a consolidation plan. It would require voter approval of a fire levy on next year's November ballot.

Fire officials say the consolidation would eliminate some duplication, but also would cost taxpayers more money. That's because the consolidated service would hire more full-time and part-time personnel and would give volunteers more than their by-the-call pay to serve on station shifts.

The consolidated department's annual operating budget is estimated at $4.1 million, about $2 million more than the combined current budgets of the five fire departments. While officials caution that the plan and its costs are tentative, they acknowledge that the cost of fire and life squad service could double in some communities.

But fire officials argue that a consolidated department would save lives and reduce property damage.

"In fire service, response time is everything," Glendale Fire Chief Don Latta said. "A fire doubles every minute and a half that it goes unchecked. In a matter of two minutes, you could go from a trash can burning in the corner of a room to a flashover where everything in the room begins to burn."

None of the five departments now has paramedics, who are trained to administer advanced life-saving measures. Loveland, Woodlawn and Lincoln Heights pay Wyoming for paramedic service, while Glendale contracts with Springdale. Elmwood Place calls in paramedics from wherever they're available.

Under the plan, nine paramedics would be on call in the consolidated fire district at all times.

These communities and several others have been talking off and on since the late 1980s about consolidating services. The current discussions have been going on for about a year.

"This is the farthest we've ever gotten with it," Woodlawn Fire Chief Rick Mynatt said.

The instability of volunteer staffing has spurred many Ohio communities to consider consolidation.

"We don't track consolidations," said Gerald Robinson, chief deputy Ohio fire marshal. "But we're getting more and more inquiries about consolidating. A lot of the smaller departments need more manpower."

In 1996, the Fairfax and Madison Place fire departments merged. In February of this year, Newtown became part of that fire district. In 1999, Deer Park and Silverton formed a joint fire district.

The volunteer factor

Of the five fire departments considering consolidation, all but Woodlawn depend primarily on volunteers.

The fire chiefs never know how many volunteer firefighters will be able to respond to an emergency.

"We don't know what we're going to get from one call to the next," Latta said.

"Every minute we lose getting to the scene of a fire increases the chance of losing the entire structure or of a fatality occurring," Latta said.

Lockland Fire Chief Bill Welshans said the communities need more paramedics.

"Wyoming provides excellent (contract) service," he said. "But they provide it to five communities. If their paramedic unit is out in one community, the other four communities don't have it."

The consolidation would save equipment costs by eliminating some duplication, fire officials say. For instance, two or three of the departments' four ladder trucks - which cost $500,000 new - could be sold.

But hiring more people would require more tax money. The consolidation committee, chaired by Lockland Mayor Jim Brown, hasn't determined yet how large of a fire levy would be needed.

"It's going to be a tough, tough sell," Brown said. "Any time you take money out of people's pockets, it's a tough sell."

Residents watch process

Some residents have concerns about paying more taxes and sharing control over fire and life squad services with other communities.

"I've seen the consolidation of different services, and somebody always suffers," said Woodlawn resident Barbara Andrews. "I would like to see each community keep its own fire department. It will be easier to keep the standards we have now."

But Aaron Austin of Glendale supports the consolidation idea. "For a small community like this, where the fire department is mostly volunteer, I don't see how it could be anything but good," he said.

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E-mail skemme@enquirer.com