The city of Hudson’s fire department is a volunteer fire department made of 41 total firefighters (35 volunteers and six full-time). A staff that isn’t always available to tackle emergencies as soon as they occur isn’t what the taxpayers of Hudson deserve.
Just recently, Hudson lost its fourth house in the past four years. The home was on St. Regis Blvd., near the Streetsboro border, and burned down almost entirely because the fire department took more than 20 minutes to get there. If the fire department was fully staffed, they could have put out the fire sooner and salvaged more of the house.
Steve Hirsch is head of the National Volunteer Fire Council and in an NPR article, he shared that people may find themselves waiting forty-five minutes for a fire truck to show up when their house is burning down.
This national issue is happening in Hudson and its surrounding towns. While Hudson is a great community for families in the public school district and a good place to settle down, the fire department’s slow responses are a major concern.
On April 12, 2022, Hudson held a city council meeting addressing the fire and EMS department. The council discussed the pros and cons of the fire department’s current separate operational models compared to a theoretical full-time combined Fire/EMS model. While the pros section upheld a good standard, the cons section proved otherwise. The major cons were that there was never enough staff ready and that response time was slow and delayed three to four minutes compared to if there were to be a full-time staff.
In the theoretical full-time model, every quirk from the current version would be fixed. The only downsides were budgeting and cost proportions, which could easily be handled with taxpayer dollars because this is what the city of Hudson wants and deserves. The only other complications would include a new location or other locations which were debated being south of town on Rt 91 and Terex Rd.
Another recommended area on the west side of town near Laurel Lake/Danbury would be an excellent location due to the nursing homes’ proximity. The last big complication is new equipment and vehicles. Installations of new fire hydrants and an additional ambulance would also be necessary. These expenses would definitely make a dent, but this option is worth every penny to many Hudson citizens.
The council’s statement was to keep the current separation of Fire and EMS models for the next four to five years and then reevaluate their effectiveness. But after the most recent incident in town, the reevaluation might need to happen sooner rather than later.
