History

The Bath Fire Department was formed in 1945 as a volunteer organization, by a few members of our community, under the leadership of Ross Duncan. This small group of people responded to fires out of two stations, one in Ghent and one at Hammonds Corners (Ira Rd.), by leaving their jobs or using their time off work in the interest of protecting the Township. "Neighbors helping neighbors" was the driving force.

As the years passed and the community grew, it became apparent that there was a need to expand the services of the fire department by adding career personnel, better equipment and emergency medical services while still utilizing the talents and manpower of community volunteers.

The two stations were combined, and our Bath Road Station was first built in 1951, with our first career fire-fighters being employed in 1952. They worked 24 hours on duty then 24 hours off duty, rotating every other day.

1962 marked the beginning of the Bath Rescue Squad. Then in 1964 the north wing of the station was added. The technology of the day for response notification was a system of ringing telephones in the fire-fighters' private homes that alerted the volunteers that were needed for an emergency. As technology advanced, the demands to continually train and educate firefighters and keep equipment updated presented an ever-increasing challenge.

In July of 1992, under the leadership of Bath Fire Chief Gordon Hartschuh and Copley Fire Chief Joe Ezzie, our joint operation of a second fire station with Copley Fire Department began. This joint venture utilized an existing small fire station on South Cleveland-Massillon Road in the Copley Township area of Montrose. Copley Township provided a Fire Engine for the new station, and Bath Township provided an Ambulance. The station was staffed by utilizing part-time contractual personnel. One person from Copley Township and one person from Bath Township were assigned to the station 24 hours a day. This provided faster response times to the Montrose commercial area and adjoining residential areas for both communities.

By 2008, it was very evident that the current Station 2 facility needed significant repairs and updates. Given the location and limited ability for expansion, a new joint Station 2 facility was constructed at the corner of Medina Road and Scenic View Drive in Copley Township. This facility provided expanded apparatus storage for both communities as well as better living quarters for staff on duty.

As calls for service continued to climb in both Copley and Bath Townships the original operations model for Station 2 became obsolete. In 2018, a major revision to the operation of Station 2 was undertaken. Since the construction of the new facility in 2008 had taken future expansion into consideration, The facility allowed for separate response apparatus and staffing for each community to still be housed under one roof with the cost of maintaining the facility shared by both communities. This arrangement also provided the ability for each community to assist the other seamlessly in times of need.

2020 brought significant changes to the fire department. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with increasing education requirements for initial and re-certification, Part-time firefighter/paramedics began to drop off rapidly nationwide. Bath Fire Department was no exception to this problem, and we saw our part-time staffing drop from nearly 40 members down to less than 20. To continue providing the best services possible, several additional Full-Time positions were added between 2020 and 2025 which transitioned the department into a primarily career firefighter department with a small group of supplemental part-time firefighters to assist with filling scheduling gaps. Our staff is committed to providing the highest levels of fire and emergency medical response regardless of full or part-time status.

Since the formation of the fire department in 1945, 8 people have served as Chief of the Fire Department. All have been instrumental in the continued development of the department into the progressive, full-service organization that it is today. The following individuals have filled the role of Fire Chief for Bath Township: