CHAMPION TWP., Ohio - Last week, 21 News reported that the Champion Township Fire Department is set to begin charging neighboring departments for mutual aid.

Champion Township Fire Chief Tom Dempsey has now provided more details on what the policy will look like.

Champion Township Trustee Chair Doug Emerine told 21 News that last year alone, the township received about 2,800 calls for service.

Chief Dempsey broke those calls down in a press release posted to the fire department's Facebook page, saying 721 of those calls were mutual aid calls. Meanwhile, Champion only received mutual aid 84 times in 2024.

Emerine previously told 21 News that he understands neighboring communities are understaffed, but said Champion is too, so firefighters are struggling to keep up with calls in their own service area, prompting the idea of a mutual aid service fee so Champion can prioritize its own residents.

According to Chief Dempsey's release, when calls for mutual aid come in, the township will assess the department's situation.

If the department is staffed and is responding to consecutive calls with all resources exhausted, they will not be charged a service fee. However, if a department requests mutual aid due to a staffing shortage, they will be charged a service fee.

Emerine told 21 News that trustees plan to schedule a meeting with neighboring townships before the end of March to discuss other potential solutions to the problem.

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