{"id":210537,"date":"2026-09-25T23:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T04:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=210537"},"modified":"2026-09-25T23:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T04:23:11","slug":"van-wert-fire-department-navigates-through-busy-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/09\/25\/van-wert-fire-department-navigates-through-busy-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Van Wert Fire Department navigates through busy time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the Van Wert Fire Department’s more unusual calls was to rescue a man trapped in a garbage truck. Bob Barnes\/VWFD photographer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a busy few days for the Van Wert Department. In fact, it was unusually busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firefighters and EMTs were dispatched to 27 different incidents between 12:01 a.m. Tuesday through 11:59 p.m. Thursday alone, well above the normal amount of calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur department typically averages five to six calls per day, so this was a noticeably busier stretch than normal,\u201d Fire Chief Jon Jones said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While 24 of the calls were EMS responses, two others were referred to as \u201chigh angle\u201d calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHigh-angle rescues are not common in Van Wert, so seeing two in one week was unusual,\u201d the chief said. \u201cOne came during a mutual aid response to a crash involving a semi truck on U.S. 30. At that scene, our crews provided an ambulance that transported one patient to a Mercy Health trauma center, and used our aerial apparatus to set up a high-angle rescue for the driver of the semi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other high angle call came on Wednesday, when the Van Wert Fire Department was dispatched to rescue a man who was trapped in a garbage truck. The third non-EMS call was for mutual aid at a house fire on Van Wert Willshire Rd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Chief Jones said on at least six occasions during the three-day period, crews were managing two incidents at the same time, including three instances where a second call came in less than 15 minutes after the first. Calls came in around the clock, with responses logged overnight on each of the three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA full shift at our department is seven personnel and at minimum staffing we operate with five,\u201d he explained. \u201cThat means a small crew is often handling back-to-back calls that range from medical emergencies to technical rescues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHandling that range of calls takes preparation,\u201d he continued. \u201cOur members answer a medical call one hour and a building fire the next, and they have to be ready for both without warning. That only happens through continuous training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Jones noted the fire department has logged more than 4,300 hours of training and gave a breakdown:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Fire: 2,262 hours<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • EMS: 1,327 hours<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Leadership: 337 hours<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Rescue: 225 hours<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Driving: 89 hours<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Hazardous materials: 83 hours<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cPeople sometimes ask why fire training outweighs EMS when most of our calls are medical,\u201d Chief Jones said. \u201cIt comes down to repetition. Our crews use their EMS skills every day and each medical call reinforces that training. Fires, rescues, and hazmat incidents happen far less often, so those skills have to be built and maintained through training rather than on the job. When those calls come in, there is no time to relearn a skill, so we practice until the response is automatic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThis week’s high-angle rescues are a good example \u2013 they are rare, but when they happen, our crews are ready,\u201d he added. \u201cEvery call matters equally to us, whether it’s a medical emergency or a building fire, and our training is designed to make sure we’re prepared for all of them. Leadership training matters just as much. On busy days like those we saw this week, our officers are managing multiple incidents at once, and good decisions at the top keep everyone safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Looking back at the busy week, Chief Jones said he\u2019s pleased with the work and efforts of the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI love bragging about this department,\u201d he said.\u201dEvery one of those training hours and every one of those calls represents members who show up ready, across all three shifts, day and night. The people of Van Wert are well served, and I’m proud of the work our firefighters do and grateful that I get to work alongside them every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"\"
    The Van Wert Fire Department assisted with the rescue of a truck driver whose rig went off of U.S. 30 into Dog Creek. Bob Barnes photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor It was a busy few days for the Van Wert Department. In fact, it was unusually busy. Firefighters and EMTs were dispatched to 27 different incidents between 12:01 a.m. Tuesday through 11:59 p.m. Thursday alone, well above the normal amount of calls. \u201cOur department typically averages five to six calls per day, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-topstory"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-03 17:56:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210537"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210544,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210537\/revisions\/210544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}