ASHVILLE, Ohio — The Harrison Township Fire Department welcomed residents into its station for a community open house, capping the event with a gun raffle that drew a crowd of neighbors, the department said in a Facebook post.
Von CreMeans won the first pick in the raffle drawing, and Cindy Kinnaman took the second pick, the department said. The department thanked everyone who attended for stopping by to meet the crews who respond to emergencies across the township.
The department traces its roots to 1884, when it organized as an all-volunteer outfit serving the village of Ashville and surrounding Harrison Township in Pickaway County. It remained volunteer-staffed for more than a century until the township hired its first full-time firefighters in 1988, adding more career staff in 1994 when it moved to its current 24-hour shift schedule. Emergency medical services were added to the department’s mission in 1973.
Today the department operates out of a station on state Route 752, after relocating from its original Cherry Street firehouse in 1990. Its roster includes full-time and part-time firefighters alongside command staff, and its fleet includes engines, medic units, a tanker, a brush truck and a rescue boat to cover the township’s mix of village and rural terrain.
Open houses and fundraisers like the gun raffle are a regular part of how the volunteer-rooted department engages with the community it protects, giving residents a chance to see the equipment and meet the firefighters and paramedics who staff it.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Harrison Township Fire Department.
