Two new members were sworn in Tuesday night to serve on the Bath Township Board of Trustees.
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Former Lima Fire Chief Andy Heffner has officially announced his candidacy for Bath Township Trustee. Heffner, a longtime Bath resident, was formally approved by the Allen County Board of Elections for the November 4th ballot.
After 29 and a half years of service to Lima, the fire chief gets ready for his next chapter. Andy Heffner signed off for the last time during a party filled with friends, family, and his fellow firefighters as he retires from the Lima Fire Department. It was a day of mixed emotions for Heffner, as he thanked many people in the room, especially the men and women that served with him.
A 25-year veteran at the Lima Fire Department now becomes the station's chief and is ready to take the helm. Lima Mayor Sharetta Smith gave the oath of office to Deputy Chief Jack McDermitt, surrounded by his family, for the position of the City of Lima's fire chief. He started his career as a firefighter in 1999 and moved up the ranks. He says becoming chief wasn't a goal he set for himself, but learning from other leaders and Chief Andy Heffner, he was inspired to move toward leadership positions within the department, and he hopes to continue to take the department forward.
Lima City Council continues their discussions from April on potentially changing their hiring procedures for the city's Police and Fire Chief. The conversation of this possible change is occurring as both Chief Angel Cortes with the Lima Police Department and Chief Andy Heffner with the Lima Fire Department will be retiring later this year leaving both positions open. Currently, the Lima Police and Fire Departments only permit hiring of the next chief by conducting an internal search, but council is considering expanding that search to external candidates outside of each department. However, councilors present different stances on what should occur.
LIMA, OH (WLIO) - On the second day of hearings, three major departments proposed their 2024 budgets to the Lima City Council Finance Committee.
LIMA, OH (WLIO) - The City of Lima continued to review budget proposals for 2023.
The Lima Fire Chief praises the work of his firefighters and EMT’s who responded to a fatal nine vehicle crash on I-75 in September. During the mayor’s press conference, Chief Andy Heffner said when a situation is at its worst, the men and women of the Lima Fire Department must be at their best, which is what happened on September 4th. He says he is proud of how they handled the chain reaction crash that started on top of the SR 309 overpass and had a debris field that stretched for over a mile. Along with the one fatality, they had to deal with multiple people injured, multiple agencies responding to help, and helped maintain the crash scene until everything was cleaned up.
October is Fire Prevention Month, and Lima Fire Chief Andy Heffner was the keynote speaker sharing his perspective. A major high-rise fire 30 years ago was used as an example of what happens when fire protection systems fail. In this case, the alarm did not notify the fire department. After a fire burned for 19 hours, a matter of 10 sprinkler heads on the 30th floor were able to control a fire that 300 firefighters could not. Heffner wants area businesses to understand just how important these sprinklers are.
The Lima Fire Department responded to a house fire Wednesday morning. The call came in around 9 a.m. for a fire in the 600 block of North Elizabeth Street. No power had been at the house for a year and the property has been empty for some time. The Lima Fire Department also says that people have been squatting inside the home and that this is not the first fire that this property has seen.