By Linda Dillman
Staff Writer
Three more Madison Township firefighters were honored on July 15 for their heroic actions in responding to a life-threatening June 1 Groveport Road fire when two people were trapped in their basement as a fire raged overhead.
Dispatched from Station 182, Allen Young and Joe Rider were less than a half mile away when they responded to the single-story ranch along with other firefighters, who were honored during a similar presentation in June.
“As they came around the corner, they encountered a heavily involved fire,” said Madison Township Fire Chief Robert Bates. “Rider and Young took control of the hose line and kept the fire off of crews going down into the basement.”
Nine different units—from Madison Township, Bloom Township and Columbus—responded to the fire where two adults sleeping in the basement were blocked from escaping because the stairs were located in the area of heaviest fire involvement.
Family members sleeping on the first floor were alerted to the situation by smoke detectors and exited the house. Fire blocked their efforts to assist their relatives in the basement.
Bates said, if not for Rider and Young’s actions—who were awarded the department’s highest honor, the Medal of Valor—in keeping the fire away from fellow firefighters’ efforts to rescue the two individuals, the outcome might have been much different.
For his efforts in the early morning rescue, Firefighter Michael Kipp was presented an individual citation.
Other Madison Township news
Trustee Gary McDonald updated fellow trustees on an upcoming Aug. 19 presentation by assistant Franklin County highway engineer James Ramsey regarding restoration work on the 93-year-old Sims Ditch and its drainage system.
“The Sims drainage system is a piped system constructed through the Ohio Petitioned Ditch Law in 1922,” reported Ramsey in a July 9 email to the township.
“The system has been in significant disrepair, having had no comprehensive maintenance since its construction in 1922. We are currently rehabilitating the system in stages with funding provided by the Franklin County Commissioners and with the support of property owners who own the property on which the system is located.”
Work began in 2014 and, according to Ramsey, when finished, storm water drainage for properties emptying into the Sims system should be significantly improved. The triangular-shaped area is bordered by the intersection of Ebright and Bixby roads (including most of the Harriet subdivision), the intersection of Bixby and Rager roads (east of U.S. Route 33), and the intersection of Rager Road and the railroad tracks near Decker Nursery.
Ramsey said he will give an update of the project and answer any questions from township officials or residents in August.
