HALLSVILLE, Ohio — The Colerain Township Volunteer Fire Department has received new rope rescue and rigging equipment through a grant from South Central Power Co., the department said in a Facebook post.
The department, which is based in Hallsville and serves Colerain Township in the northeastern corner of Ross County, said the gear was “much needed” and thanked South Central Power for the donation. Photos posted by the department show an assortment of new rope bags, carabiners, pulleys and a Sked-style rescue litter staged on the bumper of one of its engines.
Rope and rigging equipment is used by fire departments for high-angle and low-angle rescues, including pulling people from ravines, embankments, wells and other hard-to-reach terrain that is common in the hilly, rural parts of Ross County. A Sked-style litter, visible among the gear in the department’s photos, is a flexible stretcher that can be dragged, carried or lowered on rope to move an injured person out of terrain inaccessible to a standard ambulance cot.
The donation came through the South Central Power Foundation, the charitable arm of South Central Power Co., a Lancaster-based, member-owned electric cooperative that is Ohio’s largest, serving more than 123,000 customers across 24 counties, including parts of Ross County. The foundation is funded through a round-up program in which member customers voluntarily round their monthly electric bills up to the next dollar, with the spare change pooled into a community grant fund. In 2025, the foundation gave away more than $739,000, including 123 grants to community groups and organizations, according to the cooperative. Grant requests are considered quarterly and cover categories that include first responders, human services organizations, youth programs, and arts and culture.
Fire departments across South Central Power’s service territory have been recipients of the foundation’s grants for equipment purchases, including matching-fund awards for items such as fire pumps, storage buildings and rescue boats, according to the cooperative.
The Colerain Township Volunteer Fire Department is an all-volunteer department that responds to fire, medical and rescue calls in Colerain Township, a rural township of about 2,000 residents in the northeastern corner of Ross County along the Pickaway County line.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Colerain Township Volunteer Fire Department.
