Chiefs devise response plan

Email To A Friend
Printer Friendly
Comments

---

by Jeff Saunders

Reporter

Nordonia Hills -- When Twinsburg Road is closed at Route 8 in a few months for highway expansion, traffic -- including ambulances and other emergency rescue vehicles -- will have to find new paths to get from here to there.

That's why three area fire departments have drawn up plans for how fire and EMS calls east of the intersection will be handled.

For the two years the road will be closed, fire calls between Route 8 and the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks will automatically be handled by Northfield Center, Macedonia and Boston Heights fire departments, officials said.

During that time, for EMS calls in the same area, Boston Heights will be the first agency on hand. Several Northfield Center businesses and a number of homes are located there, including the Rolling Brook and Brandywine Preserve residential developments.

Northfield Center Fire Chief Robert Derrit said a study by the fire department last year estimated there are 40 EMS calls and four to six fire calls annually from that area.

Boston Heights does not have an ambulance, said Derrit, but it can send a first response vehicle with an emergency medical technician.

"They can handle basic stabilization until we arrive," said Derrit.

To get there, Northfield Center firefighters will have to travel down Olde Eight Road to Hines Hill Road. Responders will then cross Route 8 and head north to Twinsburg Road via Walters Road.

Derrit said the route will about double the department's current response time of seven minutes, which is about how long it will take Boston Heights to respond via Route 8, Hines Hill Road and Walters Road.

Boston Heights also will respond to the small section of Macedonia on Twinsburg Road between the tracks and the boundary with the township. The area includes Bendleton Court, a residential street.

Macedonia Fire Chief Tim Black said the fire department's route to calls in the area will be via Route 82 and Route 8 to Twinsburg Road. Black said this is to avoid the tracks that cross Twinsburg Road, west of Valley View.

"Trains can block the road for up to 10 minutes," he said.

Derrit and Boston Heights Fire Chief Jim Robinson said the city and township will compensate the village; approximately $120 has been proposed for each EMS call.

"That's in negotiation right now, but it will be about that," said Robinson.

E-mail: jsaunders@recordpub.com

Phone: 440-232-4055 ext. 4105