FAQ

The old station located at 388 Greenwell was built as a volunteer station in 1956 to prevent the annexation of the eastern portion of the township to the City of Cincinnati. By providing service to the residents along the eastern district Delhi Volunteer Fire Department was able to establish a foothold that would ensure fire protection would remain a priority of Delhi citizens. This station was never designed to board fire personnel, and was remodeled in the 1980’s to accommodate overnight staffing.  Up until 2016 this station offered just shy of 900 square feet of living space.  Operations from this location have always been crucial as the majority of incidents and population covered are in this district.  Over the years new apparatus were purchased and had to be built under specifications limiting their size to what would fit in that station.  In 2013, when residents were informed on the priorities for the next 5 years, replacement of this station was amongst the top issues.  On May 1, 2017 the new station located at 440 Greenwell was opened for operations.  Construction of the station was funded through the Tax-Incremental Financial Fund (TIF) which is limited to funding capital improvements and purchases.  The Fire Department spent less than $50K out of its operational funds on equipping the new station with furniture and appliances that couldn’t be repurposed from the old station.  Today personnel respond from that station to over 2000 incidents a year.

There are many services offered by the Delhi Township Fire Department that most people are unclear on, or only vaguely familiar with.  Very little time is spent in the station waiting for calls.  DTFD personnel have become more involved in proactively addressing risk in our community.  They provide injury prevention and risk reduction by providing educational programs such as:

Stepping Up™: Elderly Fall Prevention

Safesitter®: Babysitter safety and first aid

Stop the Bleed™: Empowering bystanders to stop traumatic bleeding

ASHI CPR and AED: Empowering bystanders and providers to deliver lifesaving care and interventions

Take 10 CPR

Emergency personnel has long been addressing acute events that involve immediate decisive action to reduce the extent of damage or injury.  The community understands 911, but what they are only now are starting to realize is the role the fire department can play in providing access to services that have a positive impact on the community after the 911 call is over.  The department has networked with an extensive collaboration of partners to assist residents with issues that pose a risk to themselves or family and represent a potential burden to emergency services.  DTFD also provides consultation and coordination with other agencies to address:

Children and Elderly Advocacy against abuse and neglect

Public Health Advocacy to address Hoarding, Bed bugs, Sanitation, Mental Health, Addiction, Residential Fire Safety

Social Services Advocacy to Assisted Living Care, reduce Social Isolation, Hospice and Medicare referral as well as Veterans Assistance.

These services are currently being offered in addition to the programs we have always offered such as:

Fire Safety Education

Smoke Detector Installation

Car Seat Inspection

Blood Pressure Screening

In 2018, voters approved an additional 3.45 mil levy for fire and EMS operations that sought to increase our fulltime staffing by three total personnel. The levy was designed to last at least 5 years, and that was accomplished. However, with revenue offsets during the pandemic the fire department
was able to make two adjustments in the favor of taxpayers. First the lowest possible requested levy would bring an additional $1M annually so that the fire department can make the needed adjustments to staffing and operations to continue providing the same level of service. Secondly this levy will provide
the necessary funding for three years getting it off cycle with the additional police levy funding.

The 1.99 Mill levy request if approved on November 7^th would cost an additional $70 per year for a $100, 000 home or $5.83 monthly.

The fire department currently operates three paramedic equipped ambulances and bills patient insurance providers only for transportation.  The fire department only receives about 60% of the requested reimbursement due to caps on insurance and regulated caps from Medicare and Medicaid.  Delhi typically receives just shy of $600,000 annually from EMS reimbursement (10% of the total budget).   Those funds can only be used to operate the EMS division of the fire department and cover EMS supplies and drugs as well as about $450,000 in paramedic salaries.

No. The fire department operated independent of the township’s general fund and has operated on levied funds only since 2005.  The fire department does pay shared services annually to the General Fund. This expense covers salaries and services that are not directly performed by the fire department but by other township departments.  On average this expense is about $245,000.

No. The Board of Trustees have approved capital funding for needed fire and EMS apparatus replacements since 2005. The fire department has been able to acquire the necessary apparatus and equipment to enhance the safety of the firefighters and the needs of our paramedic service. The construction of the new Delhi Towne Square project has had no impact on the fire department’s capital replacement plan. The new aerial was purchased because there were items found on the old quint to be too costly to repair that would significantly reduce its service life. The 100ft aerial has been a key factor in the fire department’s operations since 2008, enhancing safety, operations and ISO classification. Salaries are governed under collective bargaining, and although personnel costs are 86% of the total budget they are in-line with other communities making retention opportunities better in the competitive market for fire service personnel. Quality personnel and apparatus is the foundation to providing an effective and comprehensive service to the community, so the fire department prioritizes these in order to provide the highest level of service fiscally possible.