WADSWORTH FIRE DEPARTMENT AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE
153 North Lyman Street
Wadsworth, Ohio 44281
Business #: (330) 335-2849 FAX #: (330) 335-2848
Revised April 24, 2003
Ralph J. Copley, Fire Chief
The Wadsworth Department and Emergency Medical Service provides fire and emergency medical care for the City of Wadsworth and Wadsworth Township. The department serves a 25 square mile area.
The fire department, which was organized in 1896, is made up of 41 members. Six are fulltime. These consist of a fire chief, two fire inspectors, training officer, emergency vehicle maintenance person, and department secretary. Two part time maintenance persons are employed. The remainder of the force is paid on call. The emergency medical service is composed of 38 members. Six fulltime Paramedics provide twenty four hour, seven day a week, on-duty advanced life support service. This staff is supplemented with 32 paid on call Paramedics, Intermediate, and Basic EMTs.
The fire department answered 270 fire emergency calls plus 183 service requests, including 38 carbon monoxide checks during the year 2002. The E.M.S. answered 1,600 emergency calls during this year.
The equipment available in Wadsworth for firefighting include: Three modern pumping engines, a 100 foot aerial platform truck, a 3000 gallon tanker, a 1999 combination heavy rescue truck / hazardous materials containment truck, and a AMC General Hummer quick attack unit. The E.M.S. maintains four modern ambulances equipped with external defibrillators and other state of the art life support equipment.
With the passage of a Fire Levy in November of 2000, we dedicated a Satellite fire station for the area on the north side of Wadsworth on January 25, 2003. This station will be staffed with firefighters/medics in mid-2003, but is presently staffed with 2 emergency medical responders 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
With the implementation of fulltime paramedic coverage in April of 1998, the response times for E.M.S. have been drastically reduced. Public education is an important service offered by both the fire department and the emergency medical service. Programs are offered to the public through scheduling at the fire department. (Fire prevention programs, CPR training classes and other educational programs as well as the distribution of “Infotubes” to store important medical information on site and to provide easy access to this information in an emergency) These programs and services can be arranged by calling the fire station at (330) 335-2849 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. To arrange for a fire safety inspection, contact the Fire Prevention Bureau at (330) 335-2820 or (330) 335-2852.
The fire department’s business office is located at 153 N. Lyman Street and can be reached at (330) 335-2849.
All Fire and Emergency Medical calls are handled through the Wadsworth Police Department dispatcher. Emergency calls can be made by calling 911 or by dialing (330) 334-1511.
Additional numbers for fire and EMS all have voice mail capabilities;.
Fire Chief Ralph J. Copley - (330) 335-2851
Chief's Secretary, Arlene Buie - (330) 335-2849
Training, Captain Ron Likley - (330) 335-2850
Fire Inspector, Eric Bowling - (330) 335-2820
Fire Inspector, Robert Lindner - (330) 335-2852
Police and Fire Maintenance Andy Hontert - (330) 335- 2853