Fire Department

The Mt. Healthy Fire Department is a combined agency, consisting of 1 full-time professional, and 20 part-time professionals. We provide firefighting, rescue, haz-mat, and Intermediate-level EMS service. We cover a 1.4 square mile area, consisting of 7,150 citizens, and are quartered at fire station 74, 7700 Perry Street (along with the police department and the City administration). We are called to service approximately 1,250 times annually; around 1025 EMS calls and 225 fire calls.

HISTORY

The Mt. Healthy Volunteer Fire Department was established by an ordinance of Village Council, at the request of Mayor D. J. Smith, on the evening of October 17^th, 1898. Charles Holliday was appointed as the first acting Fire Chief. From 1898 to 1900, the first firefighting equipment was purchased and the new volunteer personnel were trained. Originally, Mt. Healthy’s firefighting apparatus consisted of 2 four-person hand pumps which drew water from in-ground wells, 2 hose reels, and one ladder wagon. All of the original equipment was hand-drawn – pulled to the scene by running firemen.

On September 22^nd, 1900, Riley Hunt was elected by the members of the department as the first official Fire Chief, and officers were chosen. The new volunteer Fire Department was first housed in the stables of the Skillman family livery, which was located at 1617 Second Street (now known as Compton Road); this first station served little function other than to house the firefighting equipment. A new firehouse was constructed in the 7600 block of Perry Street in 1904. Also in 1904, Riley Hunt retired as Fire Chief and was replaced by Sam Mortimer.

In 1924, Village Council approved the purchase of a fire engine, and a few months later, the Fire Department took delivery of its first motorized apparatus, a 1924 REO-Howe Pumper. An Ahrens-Fox pumper was purchased and placed into service in 1938, followed by an Ahrens-Fox “Quad” (combination pumper/ladder wagon) in 1950. In 1961, the Mt. Healthy Fire Department purchased a Pirsch pumper, and a Sutphen pumper was placed into service in 1985 – the 1985 Sutphen remains in service today as Engine 274. In 1997, a Pierce Quantum rescue pumper was placed into service and continues to serve as our first due fire apparatus, Engine 74. All of the other apparatus in the department’s history is either still owned by the department or in the hands of collectors of antique fire apparatus.

In its early days, the volunteers of the Mt. Healthy Fire Department were summoned by ringing a bell in the tower of the Methodist Church on Perry Street. The bell had a long rope attached so that anyone could ring it who required the Fire Department’s services. Chief Sam Mortimer established a specific alerting system, in which the Village was split into four “quadrants.” Two tolls of the church bell signaled a fire in the NorthEast quadrant, three tolls of the bell signaled a fire in the NorthWest quadrant, four tolls of the bell signaled a fire in the SouthEast quadrant, and five tolls of the bell signaled a fire in the SouthWest quadrant. The tolling of the bell would summon the volunteer firemen to the station and, based on the number of rings, they would respond with the firefighting equipment to the appropriate part of town. In 1925, an electric mechanical siren was installed on the firehouse roof. When a citizen called for help on the telephone, the telephone company operator would activate the siren, summoning the firefighters to the station, where they would answer a phone and receive the location of the call.

In 1939, Sam Mortimer retired as Fire Chief, to be replaced by Edward “Mick” Hader, who served until 1944. Chief Hader was succeeded by Ray Fehrman in 1944, and in 1949, the Fire Department was moved to its current location at 7700 Perry Street. Emergency calltaking and dispatching functions were assumed by the Hamilton County Communication Center in 1955, and in 1959 Chalres Erb succeeded Ray Fehrman as Fire Chief. Ray Fehrman was succeeded by Art Girty as Fire Chief in 1974.

Mt. Healthy, which had since grown from a village to a city, first began providing emergency medical ambulance service to its citizens in 1972. Jan Apro was recruited by mayor-elect Leroy Meier to form an ambulance service for the city, and in 1972, the Mt. Healthy Emergency Medical Rescue Squad was formed, with Jan Apro as it’s first Captain. The first ambulance was a converted Cadillac hearse, which was soon replaced by a Chevrolet cargo van, transformed into an ambulance by members of the life squad in their spare time. More modern, “box-style” ambulances soon followed: a Chevy ModulVan in 1978, a Braun in 1982, and three Road Rescue ambulances, placed in service in 1988, 1995, and 2000, respectively (the last two are still in service today). On May 19^th, 1981, Terry Bayes replaced Jan Apro as Captain of the Life Squad, himself retiring in 1983, to be replaced by Clarence Howland on September 24^th.

In 1986, Charles McDaniel, Sr., replaced Art Girty as Fire Chief, and Bill Gaskins replaced Clarence Howland as Life Squad Captain. Upon Bill Gaskins’ retirement, Mel Pomfrey was appointed Squad Captain, served in the position for just over six months, and was replaced by Tom Harris, who was appointed to the post on September 26^th, 1989.

In 1994, Charlie McDaniel was succeeded by Gary Hessler as Fire Chief, and a change began to take place in the relationship between the Fire Department and the Life Squad. EMTs were gradually becoming cross-trained as firefighters and firefighters were becoming cross trained as EMTs so that, by the mid 1990’s, the two formerly separate departments merged into the single service that exists today, with both medical and fire coverage provided by the same personnel. The Life Squad and Fire Department were completely merged by the late 1990’s, with the position of Life Squad Captain (occupied by Tom Harris at the time) incorporated as EMS Captain of the Fire Department.

The 1990’s also saw the introduction of part-time, “paid by the hour” fire and EMS coverage in Mt. Healthy after the passage of a tax levy by the voters. It became very difficult for the volunteer personnel to answer calls during the workday, so the station was staffed by part-time personnel Monday through Friday 6AM to 6PM, while volunteers continued to cover calls from home 6PM through 6AM weekdays, and all shifts on weekends.

In 1998, Gary Hessler retired as Fire Chief as was replaced by Tom Harris, former Captain of the Life Squad. Tom Harris, upon his retirement in 2004, was replaced by the current Fire Chief, Steve Lawson. In late 2004, an updated tax levy was passed by the voters of Mt. Healthy to allow on-station coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. After extensive remodeling of the fire station and construction of sleeping quarters, overnight staffing of the station began in April of 2005, bringing an end to 107 years of volunteer tradition. Many of the former volunteers still continue to proudly serve the community, joined by a dedicated roster of professionals.

Lt. Jeff Murphy & Lt. Todd Marshall

Mt. Healthy Fire Department

*Mt. Healthy Fire Dept. 1924*	*Fire Trucks at the City Building*
*Mt. Healthy Firefighters at practice burn*	Fire Chief Steve Lawson at practice burn
*Ty the Firefighter*