Turkey Creek Fire Officers Take Oath Of Office
SYRACUSE — Ten Turkey Creek Fire Department officers took the oath of office at the fire board meeting Monday, June 10. The oaths were administered by township attorney Andrew Grossnickle.
Taking the oath were Fire Chief Mickey Scott; Janelle Fancil, Brian Richcreek and Bob Tinkey, battalion chiefs; Kevin Grindle, assistant chief; Jon Hall, Quinn Hunter and Brian Simmons, fire captains; Lee Gardner, fire lieutenant; and Chris Longenbaugh, EMS lieutenant.
After each oath, the officer was honored with pins affixed to each collar by a family member or friend of the officer’s choice.
Scott presented his monthly report for May:
• The department responded to 21 fire calls and 102 EMS calls. The territory lost $1,000 in a boat fire and the department’s responses saved $10,000 in property damage.
• Department personnel underwent 511 hours of fire and EMS training on subjects including operations and inventory of equipment and apparatus, responding to emergencies involving hybrid and electric vehicles, operation of air chisel and rescue struts and airbags, SCBA drills, emergency care and resuscitation of pediatric patients and autism spectrum disorder.
• Renovations to both fire stations have been completed. A certificate of completion was filed, so all warranties were in place as of May 30. The department hosted an open house from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at Station 1. “We are planning to conduct an open house at Station 2 in conjunction with the Safe Haven baby box installation, if possible,” Scott said.
• The department will provide fire and EMS standby at the Syracuse Lake fireworks July 4 and Lake Wawasee fireworks July 6.
• The May 29 CPR class was rescheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 31. “We encourage all citizens to attend this class and be trained to provide CPR,” said Scott. “Knowing and providing CPR has and can save someone’s life at any point in time.” Citizens may call (574) 457-4100 to sign up for the class.
The board unanimously approved a $579,078 bid for a new rescue engine to replace the department’s current 2002 vehicle. The four submitted bids were opened Friday, May 24, and Herb Fire of Dublin, Ohio, won with the lowest bid meeting all the bid specifications.
Sutphen Corporation will manufacture the truck, with an anticipated delivery of August 2020.
“We did budget $300,000 in the 2019 equipment replacement budget to pay for half of the purchase with the intent to budget the other half in the 2020 budget,” Scott said. “Now that we have identified the vendor, we can encumber the money for next year.”
The department will hold its annual pork chop and chicken barbecue from 10 a.m. until sold out, Saturday, July 6, at Station 1, 402 N. Huntington St., Syracuse. Chicken halves and pork chops will sell for $6 each and corn on the cob will go for $1 an ear.
Township Board
The township board did not meet, as no quorum was present to transact official business.
The fire board will next meet at 6:45 p.m. Monday, July 8, in Syracuse Town Hall. The township advisory board will meet at 7 p.m.