Is it time for the Mariemont Fire Department to merge with the Little Miami Joint Fire and Rescue (LMFR) Departments?
Terry Ransey, the incoming Fire Chief of the Little Miami Joint Fire and Rescue (LMFR) hosted the Mariemont Kiwanis Club on Tuesday at their new firehouse on Wooster Pike that became operational on the 5th of March. The LMFR district covers the three square miles that encompass Newtown, Fairfax and Columbia Township. Their two new facilities in Fairfax and Newtown cost $8 million to build, employ 60 full and part-time personnel and have a $3 million dollar budget.
The LMFR makes about 1150 runs per year of which 70 percent involve emergency medical services (EMS). One questioner asked why a fire truck needed to be deployed with the emergency medical van when just medical services were necessary. The Chief answered that it related to the need for additional personnel and equipment should lengthy CPR be necessary or lifting help to load and carry stretchers and emergency medical gear up and down staircases. He noted that the fire trucks often go right through Mariemont in servicing Columbia Township and Newtown. Additionally, by virtue of their close proximity to Keebler, they are the first to arrive at this plant.
The new Fairfax Fire House is capacious and impressive with ample sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, storage areas and a huge parking atrium for fire trucks and emergency vehicles that opens on both sides and seemingly could comfortably accommodate at least 6 fire trucks. When the Chief was asked why the station was so large, he replied that it was build with an eye to the future when consolidation of services between communities becomes imperative due to budgetary issues.
Several years ago, there was an active discussion about combining the Mariemont Fire Department and LMFR Department. Mayor Policastro favored the combination, but more Mariemonters, including myself, were opposed. With this new, magnificent facility in Fairfax, it is definitely time to renew this discussion.
As I see it, all parties would save money without sacrificing safety. The savings to Mariemont could be used to renovate and update the Municipal Building. Additionally, many firemen and EMS personnel have legitimate reservations about the wisdom of combining police and fire services.
We welcome your views on this.
–Contributed by Richard Wendel, MD, MBA
ugmented by this leading edge equipment.