Boston Heights will end its own fire and EMS operations and contract with a neighboring district for services beginning Oct. 1.
The village signed a three-year agreement with Valley Fire District for around-the-clock fire and EMS services for $240,000 per year. Valley Fire currently covers Peninsula, Boston Township and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
The contract — approved by Valley Fire on Aug. 8 and by the Boston Heights council Thursday — leases the village’s station to Valley Fire and calls for full-time staffing of firefighters and paramedics there and at Valley Fire’s facility on Dogwood Drive in Peninsula.
“We are excited about providing our residents fire protection and EMS services from within the village,” Mayor Bill Goncy said. “This agreement brings Boston Heights better services for essentially the same costs.”
The contract also calls for an ambulance to be kept at the village station. The village currently doesn’t have an ambulance.
Council President Don Polyak said lives could be saved by cutting ambulance response times “almost in half.”
Valley Fire has a staff of more than 40; the village’s “volunteer” department has 11 people but has staffed its fire station only on holidays and weekends.
Valley Fire has offered all qualified Boston Heights staffers job opportunities and has received a training grant to help all emergency employees.
Fire Chief Charlie Riedel said many Valley firefighters are residents of Boston Heights, a village of about 1,200 people.
Valley Fire has also agreed to continue participating in community events, including Santa Delivery, Halloween and Fall Festival.
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.