CHAMPION TWP., Ohio - The Champion Township Fire Department will soon begin charging neighboring communities for mutual aid services.

Champion Township Trustee Chair Doug Emerine tells 21 News this policy will go into effect at the beginning of April. The decision to start charging came from the number of mutual aid calls the township has been getting.

Emerine says last year, the township received about 2,800 calls for service. Of those calls, about 750 to 800 of them were mutual aid calls.

Emerine added that while he understands neighboring communities' fire departments are understaffed, Champion's is too, so firefighters are having trouble keeping up with calls in their own service area.

Emerine says he doesn't want to abandon these communities, but he wants to make sure Champion's residents are the top priority, so he's offering the departments one of two options: either hire more staff or pay a fee for mutual aid.

While the policy does not go into effect until April, Emerine says trustees plan to schedule a meeting with neighboring communities to see if any other solutions to this problem can be reached.

No date has been set yet for this meeting, but Emerine says it will definitely happen before the end of March.