One hundred eighty six years and counting. That’s how long the Granville Fire Department (GFD) has proudly served the Granville community. In 1834, Granville was a thriving community. Since its founding in 1805, the population had grown to 362 residents in the village and 1,421 in the township. There were numerous brick and frame residences, a growing commercial center, three chartered schools, four churches, and a number of industrial ventures. While the community had been spared many fires, the threat was real. A sense of pride and necessity to protect and maintain what had been built spurred the organization of the first “fire department”. The department was manned by uniformed volunteers who used a small hand pulled tank bound by metal bands and 12 leather buckets to put out fires.
We’ve come a long way over the years. The fire department has continuously adapted and grown with the times as needed. Today, in addition to protecting life and property from fire hazard, the department is responsible for mitigating hazardous material incidents and responding to medical emergencies making over 2000 runs per year. The department also provides public education for citizens, inspections of schools and fire drills, approval of building fire-protection systems, permitting and testing of fireworks technicians, fire guards and fire extinguisher servicemen and is an integral part of the Licking County Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Plan (Office of Emergency Management).
The number of “runs” made by the fire department has grown exponentially over the years. This growth has stemmed primarily from the addition of medical emergency response to the fire department’s responsibilities along with community growth. To address, today’s department consist of 50 highly trained full and part time members with access to 9 specialty vehicles equipped to handle any emergency situation.
The year 2020 marked a special time in the history of the GFD. After serving the community for 83 years from its downtown Prospect Street location, the fire station has been relocated to a green field facility south of downtown on S. Main Street. It was with much debate, careful thought, and detailed planning this decision to relocate was made. The benefits the new station will provide to the GFD and community will make it all worthwhile. Of particular note, the new space will contain all operations under one roof, the ability to get trucks out of the station quickly and easily, improved service and storage spaces, and classroom and hands on training spaces. In addition, the interior was designed with the fireman’s health benefits in mind, reducing the risk of cancer causing material exposure. Relocation to the new “state of the art” facility occurred in October, 2020.