HIRAM TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A Hiram Township trustee said he is concerned about the community's safety after the Village of Hiram locked two fire hydrants.
"To lock out a fire hydrant just flies in the face of public safety," Daniel Ellenberger said.
Ellenberger said two fire hydrants near the village's water tower on Wakefield Road were locked about a week after Hiram Township launched its own fire department on Oct. 1.
RELATED: Hiram Township launches its own fire department amid ongoing dispute with Hiram Village
Hiram Township's new fire department is located near the water tower, and would arrive at nearby homes before village firefighters.
"There are three houses these hydrants really protect," he said. "I think this is fairly dangerous."
Village of Hiram
Village of Hiram Mayor Anne Haynam said she locked the fire hydrants because there were two incidents over the past year where thieves stole water from the fire hydrants without permission.
"This is really about protecting the safety of our water supply," she said.
A spokesperson for the Ohio Fire State Marshal said fire hydrants should always be accessible for emergency use, but a lock is okay if every fire department that might respond to the area has keys to the locks.
When I asked Haynam if she would give Hiram Township copies of the keys to the fire hydrants, Haynam said, "Why would we? We're talking about our resource and protecting that."
Haynam said Hiram Township should request a water-use contract if it wants access to the village's fire hydrants.
"This is a resource that we should not just be giving away for free to someone outside the village," she said.
Village of Hiram resident James Reger disagreed. He said the village should provide the fire department with copies of the keys.
"They're a safety hazard," he said. "I think if the township doesn’t have access to the water, they are not going to be able to protect their residents."
Why launch a new fire department?
Before launching its own department, Hiram Township contracted with Hiram Village for fire and EMS coverage.
Ellenberger said Hiram Township launched its own fire department after the village failed to respond to two fires in the township earlier this year.
The village fire department was temporarily shut down following a public dispute between village officials and the firefighters association. The disagreement involved concerns over payroll, staffing, maintenance and communication.
RELATED: Village of Hiram shuts down Fire/EMS service following leadership resignation
“We wanted to make sure that would never happen again,” Hiram Township Fire Chief Nicholas Bushek said.
Village officials maintain their department remains operational and committed to serving residents.
“We have over 100 years of operations at this site and we will continue to do that,” Hiram Village Mayor Anne Haynam said.
Now, both the township and village are operating separate fire departments within the same community.
Both sides expressed concerns over two fire departments covering such a small geographic area.
“I think everybody will agree that having two fire departments in 25 square miles doesn’t sound like the greatest thing,” Ellenberger said. “Our goal is to bring everyone back together to have one fire department. That fire department obviously located here (in the township.)"
“The name of the game right now is to consolidate resources,” Haynam said. "It's fiscally not responsible for us to be running our own nor is it fiscally responsible to be running their own. The call volume is so low."
Haynam told News 5 that when the entities were combined, the fire department previously averaged 1.3 calls per day.
“From the beginning of the year, our concept was let’s work with Troy, some of our surrounding communities because looking forward, there’s going to be consolidations,” Haynam said. “There’s just not enough resources to afford what you need to do.”
The township and village remain in mediation.
