More on the Black River Township Fire Station

1964 aerial view of fire station at intersection of Meister and Leavitt Roads

Yesterday I joked that that since the assistant chief of the Black River Township Fire Department lived next door to the station, he didn't have to worry about his house burning down. Well, after reading the article below, I'm not so sure.

It was written by Hardy Crist and appeared in the Wednesday, December 12, 1962 Lorain Journal. It tells of a peculiar situation that existed for a while: the Black River Township Fire Department was not legally allowed to fight a fire nearby – or even in its own station!

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ANNEXATION PROBLEM FOR LORAIN
Black River Fire Station: Department Without Job
By HARDY CRIST

Standing amid expanding housing developments on Lorain's near West Side is a well-equipped but little-used fire station, part of an annexation problem which city and county officials are attempting to resolve.

Officially known as the Black River Township Fire Station, it is located at the northeast corner of Leavitt Rd. and Meister Rd.

Contained inside the large building are four fire trucks. Two are small pumper-type trucks, basically for use in fighting grass fires, while a third is a well-equipped large pumper. The fourth is an emergency truck.

But if a fire breaks out at one of the nearby homes – or for that matter at the fire station itself – the alarm will not be sounded for response of Black River Township volunteer firemen.

Because the fire station and all surrounding land is in Lorain, Black River Township by law cannot help extinguish any such nearby blaze. Rather, equipment from one of the city's fire stations – located more than two miles away – would be forced to respond.

Looking at legalities, only those lands within Black River Township boundaries can be protected by the Leavitt Rd. - Meister Rd. fire station. And in that almost-diminished township, only five properties remain, thus giving fire protection of one truck to almost each property.

Two of those properties are located far away from the township fire station. One is the Durling Clearview School property (which in reality is only a few blocks from the Sheffield Township Fire Station), while another is property at the northwest corner of Rt. 254 and Oberlin Ave. in which there are no residents.

Three other properties are located on Leavitt Rd. near Cooper - Foster Park Blvd. – and are completely surrounded by the city of Lorain. Residents on those properties are Dr. Joseph M. DeNardi, 5411 Leavitt Rd.; Charles B. Plato, 5432 Leavitt Rd., and Michael Sikora, 5410 Leavitt Rd.

Last July Lorain officials forwarded a petition to Lorain County Commissioners asking that boundary lines of the township be made identical with the municipal corporation limits. That, according to Solicitor Adrian Betleski, would represent one step in allowing use of the Black River Township Fire Department in the city.

But the commissioners refused to take any action on the petition, referring it to Prosecutor Paul Mikus for a legal opinion instead. Since then Mikus has taken the matter under advisement.

He indicated to The Journal, however, that a decision may be forthcoming within the next few days. Mikus has spent several hours pondering a legal question of what to do with the three-parcel area on Leavitt Rd., including conferences with Betleski.

He explained that the legal problems bring a unique situation which must be decided – the fact that all three Leavitt Rd. homes still in Black River Township are completely surrounded by city corporation lines.

Thus, the question of what to do with those properties if township boundary lines are made identical with Lorain's must be solved. Mikus said he has contacted several other county prosecutors, but yet has not been able to find any precedent for that type of action.

Meanwhile, West Side Lorainites – most of whom helped pay for the fire equipment while in Black River Township – are not getting the benefit of nearby fire protection.

One caretaker at the station told The Journal that he cannot remember exactly when the last Black River Township alarm call was sounded. But the small department does have four mutual aid agreements with other townships – not including Lorain city – and last spring helped quench a blaze at O'Neil Sheffield Center.

Twenty-four men, most living in Lorain, are well-equipped and stand ready to fight fires. They conscientiously hold monthly drills and are well-trained for the task.

But in reality, they have almost no actual emergencies.

Some emergency calls still are received at the department. But the law is black-and-white, and all that can be done is to relay them to Lorain's fire headquarters.

Until the legalities are resolved and something is done, the Black River Township Fire Station will remain as a ready, but somewhat false, firefighting structure.