Letter to the Editor – Our Firefighters Need Us Now: A Plea to Pass the Safety and Streets Levy

10/26/2025

Dear Editor:
Voters of Circleville: You have a critical decision to make on Election Day. I refer to the Safety
and Streets levy on the November ballot. After three failures, this is your last chance to assure
that your fire department will remain intact and continue to provide the excellent firefighting and
emergency medical services that it has for a number of years.
I am urgently asking that this new levy be passed. An important difference between this .5
percent income tax levy and the previous failed levies is that this one benefits only the fire
department (.4 percent) and street work (.1 percent).
For the fire department, it’s all about personnel. Following the last levy defeat, the department is
now short two firefighters/EMTs. The full authorized strength is 24. Even with just these two
reductions, there are times when the second EMS unit is out of service due to lack of personnel
when another emergency is in progress.
If this new levy doesn’t pass, nine additional firefighters/EMTs will be eliminated because the
grant monies that have funded their salaries have run out. That reduction will put the department
back to 15 people, which is the same number of personnel the department had in 2019, when
Brian Thompson was appointed Chief of Department. Thompson has worked diligently seeking
grant monies to bring the department up to full strength.
The number of runs has increased dramatically, from 3,088 in 2019 to 4,853 in 2024. Since there
are no longer any private ambulance companies in Circleville, it falls on our fire department to
handle “routine” nursing home calls, many of which are simply transports to Berger Hospital.
Many of these patients are on Medicaid, which requires ambulance transportation to the hospital
as a condition for admission. In addition, all of the area EMS units now make emergency
transports to Columbus hospitals, again for the lack of private ambulance companies. Medical
helicopters can do these transports, but they cannot fly in inclement weather.
What can we expect if our fire department is reduced to just 15 people? Longer response times
because of having to rely on mutual aid much of the time. For fire calls, just one engine with
three people might be all that’s available. A normal response includes an engine and ladder
truck. Again, mutual aid must be summoned. Fires spread rapidly. Saving a structure requires
fast response. And, your fire insurance rates could very well see a big increase. These rates are
calculated based on the efficiency of the fire department, including response time and number of
firefighters and fire apparatus responding. Also, the so-called “non injury lift assists,” which the
department is required to respond to, could be delayed if the short-staffed department is tied up
on another run.
I have lived in Circleville virtually my entire life. I have seen how an undermanned fire
department struggled to battle even moderate sized blazes. I have also seen how efficiently and
professionally our current fire department operates. We are fortunate to have these dedicated
people, modern eqipment and their wonderful leadership. Let’s keep it that way. Vote yes on the
Safety and Street levy.