The Bath Township Fire Department invited children, parents, spouses and other loved ones to pin badges for new recruits, who were formally sworn in by Chief Joseph Kitchen on Monday.
Photo by Mackenzi Klemann | The Lima News
BATH TOWNSHIP — The Bath Township Fire Department welcomed new firefighters Monday as the department seeks to restore staffing in the aftermath of last year’s budget cuts.
Children, parents and spouses crowded into the fire department to witness the swearing in of nine firefighters and the promotion of Brock Yingling to platoon chief.
The new hires come as Bath Township seeks to restore safety services in the aftermath of budget cuts enacted late last year, which resulted in lower minimum staffing levels and fewer part-time and overtime hours for firefighters and paramedics when the fire department narrowly lost its bid for a new levy in November.
The 2.5-mill additional levy passed when the request came before voters for a second time in March, which will bring in an estimated $740,000 per year in additional revenue for the fire department, but funds won’t come through until 2025.
Chief Joseph Kitchen said the department is acting with caution until those funds become available.
All but one of the new hires will work part time, Kitchen said.
“We’re trying to replace personnel we’ve lost, but not at full staffing,” said Brad Baxter, township trustee. “We’ve got to be able to provide good safety services for our community. This is going to get us to the level in which we think should be the minimum (staffing) that we should provide.”
In addition to new hires, Baxter said the township implemented policy changes to improve work-life balance at the fire department, including more consistent scheduling so employees know when they’re expected to work.
“We’re trying to make sure what we do put in place is going to be resilient in the future to make sure we don’t experience the same thing,” he said.
The new hires are Noah Breece, Gavin Butler, Matthew Carney, Luke Korwin, Ethan Hull, Blaici Lee, Michael Minnich, Shawn Stimmel and Brayden Young.
