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Barlow Volunteer Fire Department to hold 70th anniversary open house

BARLOW — Organized in March 1947, the Barlow Volunteer Fire Department has come a long way from attaching a trailer to farmers’ trucks to fight fires.

The department is holding a 70th anniversary open house today from 1 to 4 p.m. at the station to welcome the community in to see what’s changed in that time.

“We have had a few new trucks and updates since then, now we have one tanker, two fire trucks, a brush truck and two squads,” said Carolyn Ollom, of Vincent, who has been a member of the volunteer department as both a firefighter and EMT since 1978. “It started in Vincent at the Quonset hut, which was just an outdoor building before you get on (Ohio) 339 past the bus garage. All they had then was a trailer with a water container on it to pump water and a few farmers volunteered to hook it up to their trucks and haul it around.”

The farmers, Henry Cotteral, Dean Williams, Jim Yost, Ray Cunningham and Andy Brackenridge, stored the trailer in the old creamery in Vincent until the Quonset hut was built close to Vincent High School. Then in the early 1950s, as the department’s equipment grew and the new 1952 Federal truck with an American Fire Apparatus body on it was purchased, the department saw the need for a new building.

Since 1954 the home of the department has been located on Warrior Drive in Barlow, expanding from a three-bay building to six bays in1983 with a large meeting room and kitchen included.

Currently, the department is made up of 30 members, of which 18 are firefighters, 19 are certified EMTs, one is a certified paramedic and four are intermediates.

“In 2017 we made more than 400 EMS runs,” explained Ollom. “That’s a lot of miles some days. And there are days when you ask why, but I don’t know other than somebody has to help your neighbor.”

Janet Seaman, president of the volunteer company and assistant squad chief, said the impetus for becoming a firefighter and EMT for her was not knowing what to do years ago when she came upon an accident.

“I wanted to know how to help the next time,” she said. “My brother had been trying to get me to join for years, but that’s what made me do it.”

Though the volunteers aren’t paid for their lifesaving, there are still expenses to running a volunteer squad and fire crew.

“Most of our costs are on replacing squad supplies and equipment, but we’re also updating firefighters’ gear in a cycle and we replace out-of-date oxygen tanks the firefighters wear,” Seaman explained. “The squad costs between $100,000 and $150,000 per year because we have to buy our own supplies. We are lucky to have some grants in the past that have helped us, but we’re very much at the mercy of the community’s support.”

Ollom said the support is always there though, at the annual ice cream social in August.

“It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year,” she said. “And of course there’s a small bit from the levy, but that goes really to pay for tires and gas on all the trucks.”

The department held an appreciation dinner for its members, both past and present, Saturday and then the open house today to give the public a chance to meet its local volunteers and see photos of the department’s 70-year history.

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