Lake Twp.: Training officer hired for fire dept

The Lake Township trustees Tuesday approved the hiring of Jeff Dawson as the EMS/Fire Training Officer of the township fire department – a new position.
Fire chief Bruce Moritz said Dawson is a part-time paramedic with the department who has taught at the Ohio Fire Academy.
Dawson will start in the new position on Feb. 3 at the rank of captain. The salary will be $55,000 annually. He will also be on staff during the day as a paramedic and firefighter.
Chief Moritz said he received six applications, including two from within the department. Four candidates were interviewed.
The trustees last month approved a resolution to create the new position. Chief Moritz said it is needed to standardize the department’s training and its compliance with state and federal training and education requirements.
“We’re looking to get our people well trained and take us over the top,” he said last week.
The EMS unit in 2019 responded to 1,120 incidents – about 83 percent of the total calls for the department, which numbered 1,356, chief Moritz informed the trustees.
The department responded to 48 fire calls and 31 non-fire hazardous conditions.
The trustees also approved a contract with Lake Local Schools setting the school system’s share of paying for a school resource officer at $36,000 a year.
The contract will be in effect for the calendar year 2020.
Police chief Mark Hummer said the school district’s share will cover about half of the officer’s salary and benefits.

Searchers thanked
A 10-year-old Lake Elementary School student who was reported missing Jan. 9 has thanked the township police and fire departments for their search efforts and apologized for causing a stir.
About 50 members of the police and fire departments conducted a search after the boy got off his school bus around 2:50 p.m. and left his book bag at the end of his driveway and started walking westerly from his neighborhood in the Moline area of the township. His mother reported him missing after a neighbor told her the boy had walked away from his home.
He was found about two hours later in a field between Tracy and Oregon roads.
Units from the Walbridge and Perrysburg Township police departments and Wood County Sheriff’s Office were called to assist.
In a hand-written card he delivered to the township police station, the boy thanked the officers.
“It was nice,” said chief Hummer. “I’m sure it took a lot for him to walk up that sidewalk (to the station).”