WILLIAMSBURG, Ohio — Jackson Township Fire and Rescue, Williamsburg Township Emergency Services and Stonelick Township Fire completed annual safety testing on their aerial and ground ladders this week, pooling the mandatory inspection across three Clermont County departments to cut costs for taxpayers.
The testing took place at Williamsburg Township’s fire station on West Main Street, with the work performed by Citizens First Fire Training, a firefighter-owned company based in Chillicothe that provides fire equipment testing, sales and training services, the departments said in a joint social media post.
Annual ladder testing is required under national fire service standards. Ground ladders must be service-tested at least once every 12 months under NFPA 1932, the standard governing the use, maintenance and testing of in-service fire department ground ladders. Aerial ladders undergo a yearly visual inspection, operational test and load test under NFPA 1914, with more extensive nondestructive testing of the aerial sections required every five years.
By scheduling the work together and splitting it across the three departments, Jackson Township, Williamsburg Township and Stonelick Township said they were able to secure group pricing for the testing rather than each paying individually. “All three departments are committed to doing everything we can to save our taxpayers money by getting group pricing for work like this,” the departments said.
Jackson Township Fire and Rescue, established in 1987, operates out of a station on U.S. 50 in Williamsburg under Fire Chief Kevin Turner. Williamsburg Township Emergency Services has served the township, Clermont County’s first settlement, since 1935 and is staffed primarily by volunteers, supported by two career firefighters and dozens of paid-per-call members who respond to fire and EMS calls from its West Main Street station. Stonelick Township Fire operates out of a single station on U.S. 50 in Batavia.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Jackson Township Fire and Rescue, Williamsburg Township Emergency Services and Stonelick Township Fire.