Olmsted Township Fire Department
Chief Mario Bellido              Phone: 440-235-3746
E-mail: otfire1@cox.net             Fax: 440-235-3778

Current History of the Olmsted Township Fire Department


Currently we have a 19-member Department with an overall ISO rating of 5. All members are Full Time. We work in three shifts: A, B, and C. Each shift works for 24 hours followed by 48 hours off duty. All personnel are required to carry a pager and can be called in at any time. Each shift consists of one Officer and five Firefighters. There is always a minimum of 4 men on duty, allowing 2 men to be off. The Fire Chief works a 40 hour work week and is available between 7 am and 3 pm. Filling our other ranks are 1 Assistant Chief and 3 Lieutenants who works a 24 hour shift. There is also a Certified Fire Safety Inspector on each shift. Out of the 19 members, 18 are trained Paramedics, and 3 are Fire Inspectors.

All shifts start at 0700 hours and end the next morning at 0700 hours. During shift time, members are responsible for all station duties and emergency calls. Training takes place every shift, weather permitting. We provide numerous services to the community other than fire suppression and EMS. Local day cares and schools often schedule various educational classes for their students. These classes can be on fire prevention and safety education, to career day at the local High School, or CPR/First Aid classes. We also provide fire extinguisher training for school employees and various local commercial businesses.

Our Department has seen considerable growth over the past 6 years. Staffing levels have increased from 3 on duty in 2000, to 4 on duty in 2001, 5 on duty in 2002, and most recently 6 on duty since 2003. We are currently 2 Firefighters short. This has been a much needed increase in manpower due to the increase of calls over the years. 2007 posted our busiest year ever, just under 1800 calls for the year. We look forward to even busier years due to the considerable amount of growth and development the Township is seeing.

Department Roster:

Chief Mario Bellido - Serving Since 1984

A Shift
Lt. Chris Kovach- Serving since 2000
FF Jim Cancilla- Serving since 1992
FF Anthony Puklavec- Serving since 2003
FF Dean Souris- Serving since 2005
Probationary FF Brett Stalzer- Serving since 2008

B Shift
Lt. Dave Dahlhausen- Serving since 2003
FF Justin Fischbach- Serving since 2001
FF Chris Jansen- Serving since 2002
FF Damon Schreiber- Serving since 2006
Probationary FF Joe Foecking- Serving since 2008

C Shift
Lt. John Rice- Serving since 1997
FF Joe Fudale- Serving since 1988
FF Bill Chakan- Serving since 2002
FF Derek VonDerVellen- Serving since 2007
FF Mike Germano- Serving since 2007
Probationary FF Barrie Nichta- Serving since 2008

The rank of Assistant Chief is currently not filled.