By Amanda Amsel
Staff Writer
The Franklin Township Fire Department is bracing for the worst as officials prepare to temporarily close a fire station.
At the recent trustees meeting, Fire Chief Rick Howard warned township residents that the fire department may have to temporarily close station 192 this summer.
“We have more people leaving than we can fill their positions, which is going to leave us short staffed,” Howard said. “This summer we have people on vacation, some people potentially leaving and one person going on FMLA. All of this is going to result in not having enough men to run both stations.”
While Howard warns this may not happen, he said it is important that the public know what could happen. Currently, the fire department has 32 full-time employees, including the chief.
Last year the chief said they had 40 employees.
“We need 10 people per day to run both stations,” said Howard. “This summer, we have two guys off each day for vacation, plus if we lose someone and someone goes on leave that takes us down to six guys.”
In order to run a fire truck, Howard said they must have three people on it and a medic must have two people. If someone calls off or gets hurt, it is going to make it impossible to run any of the equipment at both stations.
“If this happens we will move all the guys over to 193 and make due,” the chief said. “Station 192 won’t stay closed forever, it will only be temporary.”
