Belmont fire station closing regularly due to staffing

Five months ago, a Facebook post from a Liberty firefighter alerted the public that the fire station on Belmont Avenue was sometimes closed due to lack of staffing. The union for the Liberty Township Fire Department said staffing issues are getting worse. 

Trustees are looking for ways to attract enough firefighters to keep the township safe. Liberty Township trustee Devon Stanley said they are working towards having both stations open all the time. 

On both sides of Liberty Township are fire stations. If 5 firefighters are not on duty, the Belmont station closes. Ronnie Simone, president of IAFF Local 2017, said because of the change in staffing, fire station 34 was closed for most of July. 

"Your response time to the Belmont side of town is upwards of 8 minutes on certain parts of this township, and that's a huge concern. As we know, brain death can happen, cardiac arrest in eight minutes. If you are trapped in a house fire, 8 minutes is a lifetime," said Simone.

Simone said until recently, the department added a fourth firefighter in daily staffing using overtime.

A letter sent to the trustees by the Liberty Professional Firefighters said the following:

The recent decision by the Liberty Township Board of Trustees to no longer staff a fourth firefighter towards daily staffing is troubling and dangerous. This decision has resulted in Station 34 being closed most of July.

The letter went on to say:

Spending money on staffing a Fire Department which has never exceeded its budget is morally objective. Relying on mutual aid and burdening our taxpaying residents with a bill for a service they already pay for is not acting in their best interest.

"The Liberty Township trustees are relying on mutual aid companies from Hubbard, Girard, and we are seeing the effects of that on these calls, people waiting absurd amount of times for patient care," said Simone.

Trustee Greg Cizmar said they give as much help to other communities as they get. In July, Liberty Township received aid 14 times, but helped other departments 13 times.

Trustee Arnie Clebone said the township has hired additional firefighters and raised starting wages to try to attract more.