Hiram Township's new fire department started answering calls at 8 p.m. Wednesday, marking the end of its decades-long fire and EMS contract with neighboring Hiram Village. The launch caps a chaotic seven months that began with a leadership exodus at the village department and a temporary shutdown of its fire and EMS operations, and it leaves two separate fire departments now covering the same small patch of Portage County.
A Department Built From Scratch in Under Two Months
Chief Nicholas Bushek said the township built its new department from scratch in less than two months, according to News 5 Cleveland. The station reports the township gathered donated and rented equipment from nearby departments to get running: PENN CARE donated an ambulance, and Green Township in Mahoning County sold the township a fire engine at a reasonable price. All told, the township invested roughly $54,000 in the startup operation, per the same report.
The township had contracted with Hiram Village for fire and EMS coverage before deciding to launch its own operation, the station notes. That contract unraveled after a very public breakdown within the village's department leadership. Fifteen-year Hiram Fire Chief Bill Byers retired in February 2026 citing a hostile work environment, and the assistant chief and a captain resigned soon after, according to The Portager. The Hiram Firefighters Association subsequently issued a vote of no confidence against Mayor Anne Haynam over payroll and staffing disputes, the outlet reports.
Shutdown and Scramble
The sudden leadership vacuum had immediate regulatory consequences. Haynam temporarily suspended all village fire and EMS operations on March 1, 2026, after the resignations left the village without a designated chief and triggered the withdrawal of its required EMS Medical Directorship, according to WKYC. Ohio law requires that medical directorship to operate EMS transport and administer medications, the station explains.
News 5 Cleveland reports the village fire department was temporarily shut down following the public dispute between village officials and the firefighters association over payroll, staffing, maintenance and communication. In the wake of that shutdown, Hiram Township Trustees formally issued a 90-day notice on March 17, 2026, to terminate the village's long-standing fire and EMS service contract, with township service set to end July 17, according to a Hiram Village announcement, clearing the path for the township to build its own standalone department.
Village Says It's Stabilized and Staying Put
Village officials maintain their own fire department remains operational and committed to serving residents, News 5 Cleveland reports. Haynam told the station Hiram Village has more than 100 years of operations at its site and will continue operating there. The village brought in Anthony Marotta, a 30-year fire service veteran and lieutenant with the Aurora Fire Department, as interim chief in April before he was sworn in as Hiram Village's permanent fire chief on September 1, per The Portager.
An internal operational audit presented by village leadership found that full two-person, around-the-clock staffing was maintained at the station on only 54% of calendar days in 2025, according to Hiram Village. Single-crewed shifts prevented firefighters from making immediate hospital transports without waiting for mutual aid, the village notes. During 2025, the combined Hiram Fire Department responded to 570 total runs and 110 mutual aid calls, with village officials calculating an operational expenditure of $1,026.48 per non-mutual-aid run, according to the Weekly Villager.
A Failed Compromise and a New Push for Partnership
The two sides came close to a joint structure earlier this year. In May 2026, Hiram Village proposed a Joint Fire District with a $609,000 budget and a five-member board that would have given Hiram College a tiebreaking vote, but the Weekly Villager reports Hiram Township declined to adopt the structure, with critics raising concerns over projected operating deficits and non-taxpayer voting power.
Township Trustee Dan Ellenberger, who was sworn into office in spring 2026 to fill a board vacancy after Trustee Debra Blake resigned, previously served as Hiram's Fire Chief for many years and now serves as Director of Critical Care Transport for University Hospitals, the Weekly Villager notes. Ellenberger told News 5 Cleveland the goal is to bring everyone back together into one fire department located in the township, and said the township and village are hoping to reunite. Haynam, for her part, told the station the fire departments should consolidate resources, though she said nothing has been decided in mediation and that there has been no communication yet between the township and village about mutual aid.
Hiram Township and Hiram Village now operate separate fire departments covering 25 square miles combined, per News 5 Cleveland, with the two departments averaging 1.3 calls per day when combined. The station reports the township's fire department will offer mutual aid to the village's fire department if needed, and that mediation negotiations between the two sides are expected to continue next week. The village also said it plans to work with Troy Township and surrounding communities on future consolidations, a strategy that lines up with a September meeting where Hiram Township trustees met with Troy Township officials in Geauga County to evaluate a joint operating agreement drafted by fire service attorney Chip Comstock, according to the Geauga County Maple Leaf. Comstock has structured joint fire operating agreements for more than 20 Ohio fire departments, the outlet notes.
The dispute involves two neighboring jurisdictions that now operate separate fire departments. Both sides say they'd like to end up back under one roof.
