Since 2019 the Howland Township fire department has been working to strengthen its ambulance services. While other communities have struggled, Howland is succeeding.

Using money from the American Rescue Plan Act and a 2019 levy, along with smart budgeting, the department was able to purchase more ambulances.

Howland Township Fire Chief, Raymond Pace told 21 News that a new fifth ambulance is on its way to the station. With the addition and replacement of the fifth ambulance, this will allow fire paramedics to continue adapting to the needs of the community. 

"If anything were to happen [to] one of the primary four ambulances where it would need to be taken out of service, we [would] have no gaps in delivery of service. We're able to essentially park one of our ambulances and immediately get into the fifth one and utilize it," Pace said. 

According to the chief, the department is operating with a full-time staff seven days a week. It is also the busiest fire-based EMS provider in Trumbull County.

"We actually added one additional firefighter paramedic to each shift. So we increased our full time staffing from seven each day to eight each day and we were able to open our station 31 for 24 hours," Pace said. 

With the department having five ambulances they are able to maintain their fleet by increasing vehicle longevity and spacing out replacement ambulances in the future.