The Fire Department

    As you may know, the community of Fairfax existed decades before it formally became the Village of Fairfax. Some municipal services, like law enforcement, were provided by Hamilton County. Trash collection was provided by subscription with individual homeowners. In the early days, fire protection was provided by the Cincinnati Fire Department. Later, Fairfax contracted with the Madison Place Fire Department, which was organized in 1941.

    The Fairfax Fire Company, Inc. was formed by residents to provide funds for fire protection by the Madison Place Fire Department. Volunteers from the Fairfax Fire Company went door to door each year to collect “dues.”

The Messenger, April 19, 1946

    In 1953, the Madison Place Fire Department notified Fairfax residents that they would discontinue fire protection because Fairfax was not contributing enough support to the fire department; most funding was coming from the residents of Madison Place. To replace the annual dues, a tax levy to support fire protection was placed on the November 1953 ballot. The levy passed and Madison Place continued to provide fire protection.

The Messenger, October 30, 1953

    After Fairfax incorporated as a village in 1955, with the cost of fire protection ever increasing, council considered organizing the village’s own fire department. There were sufficient funds for equipment and facilities, but staff would be needed. Council enlisted the Fairfax Civic Association to canvass door to door to gauge interest in a fire department and recruit volunteers. 115 men expressed interest (firefighting wasn’t considered a suitable endeavor for women back then) and 74 attended the first organizational meeting. 33 were in the first training class and 26 completed the training and met the requirements to become volunteer firefighters.

     By February 1957, the Cincinnati Times-Star reported that the Fairfax Fire Department was “well along in the planning stage.” In April, council passed three ordinances to prepare for the formation of a fire department. The village bought land at the southeast corner of Hawthorne and Germania from the J. H. Berling Dairy Products Company for $10,000. Over $65,000 was allocated for purchase of the land, construction of the fire station, and purchase of a pumper and other equipment. While the fire station was being built, the equipment was kept in the Berling Dairy garage (now the Recreation Center).

     On November 1, 1957, the fire department went into full operation with day and night shifts of volunteers available. The fire station was dedicated in 1958.

Fire station dedication with Chief Ken Kuhner on the left

and Mayor John Dinkel on the right. From A History of

Fairfax, Ohio by Elizabeth Steele and Patricia Kuderer

Fairfax Fire Department in 1958 from The Messenger.

Pictured (left to right) - Kneeling: Pete Balash, Edgar “Smokey” Whiteford, Harry 

Nutick, Rollie French, Harold Allgeyer, Joe Phifer, Louis Gehring, Frank Hochstuhl. 

Standing: Chief Ken Kuhner, Paul Klump, Lt. Landis Legg, Captain Art Beckler, 

Captain Joe Sweeney, Assistant Chief Jack Roberts, Lt. George Russelberg, 

Louis Benjamin, Louis Ernstes, A. Sipe, Howard Hale, Ray Simpson 

(Cincinnati Fire Department Instructor), W. H. McKinney, M. W. Plunkett

    In 1958, the life squad went into operation in cooperation with the Fairfax Police Department, whose station wagon was used as an ambulance. In 1961, the Ford Motor Company donated a station wagon adapted for use as an ambulance.

     In September 1958, the Fairfax Volunteer Firemen’s Association was granted a not-for-profit charter with the stated purposes “to raise money to assist the village in the purchase of equipment to further improve our Fire Department facilities and service to the Village of Fairfax. Also, to encourage a better and closer personal relationship between the members of this and other Fire Departments and residents of the Village of Fairfax." The Fairfax Volunteer Firemen’s Association Ladies Auxiliary was formed in 1960 to assist the Firemen’s Association. The Association and Auxiliary went to work raising funds to purchase equipment and other items.

     In 1959, Fairfax and Mariemont fire departments challenged each other in their first skirt baseball game, which was played at the Bell Tower in Mariemont. The 1960 skirt game was held at Fairfax School and was umpired by the mayors of Fairfax and Mariemont. In 1961 and 1962, the two departments challenged each other in donkey baseball games, with parades through the villages and a donkey race between village officials beforehand.

Fairfax and Mariemont Fire Departments Skirt Game

The Messenger, June 9, 1960

    The Association also had annual dances and, of course, the Firemen’s Festival. As a kid, the festival was the highlight of my summer, though I never won much of anything. Raffle tickets were distributed to all households, which you could take to the festival to purchase. The festivities started with a parade through the streets of the village and kids could decorate their bicycles and join the parade. There were games for all ages, food, drink, rides, and the ever-popular dunking booth.

The Messenger, December 3, 1959

    Around 1960, the Cincinnati Post & Times-Star published a Volunteer Firemen’s Edition featuring the Fairfax Fire Department. Thanks to this publication, we have some great pictures showing the early days of our fire department.

    In 1960, the department decided they needed a utility truck because the pumper was overloaded with equipment. The Firemen’s Association purchased an old, battered telephone truck and, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, "The men pitched in and welded, patched and painted a crash truck which can handle small fires by itself.” The job cost the Association a total of $345 and took an estimated 300 hours to complete. Chief Ken Kuhner presented the truck to the village.

Cincinnati Enquirer, March 31, 1960

    In Fairfax, the fire department was called upon to handle issues related to the flooding of Duck Creek and Little Duck Creek. The department was often commended for the assistance they provided to residents and businesses. 

The Messenger, July 7, 1960

    In addition, many of the early firefighters volunteered throughout the village in other ways, like helping to build the swim club and renovating the old Berling Dairy garage for use as the recreation center.

Fairfax Fire Station, approximately 1964

Cincinnati Enquirer, August 10, 1967

The Messenger, August 8, 1968

This photo shows members of the Fairfax Fire Department who had recently 

completed a 16-week Red Cross first aid course. Pictured are (left to right, front 

to back): Joe Phifer, Bill Ernstes, Bob Hamlin, and Joe Sweeney; Art Beckler and 

Ted Shannon; Tom Litkenhaus, Harry Nutick, Harry Yeager, and Jack Roberts; 

Lou Ernstes, Ray Alsip, and Les Heitkemper.

    In May 1973, the Fairfax and Madison Place Fire Departments razed the 55-year-old Fairfax Food Shop at the corner of Germania and Hawthorne, using it for training and practice purposes. According to The Messenger, the firefighters "practiced inside the burning building working with smoke masks, staying in the building until the heat became so intense the men feared their plastic face masks would be damaged." The village had purchased the property and later built the municipal parking lot there.

The Messenger, May 17, 1973

Eastern Hills Journal. August 14, 1974

Fairfax Firefighters in the village Bicentennial parade, 1976

Front row (left to right): Bob Hamlin, Gary Hamilton, Don Henderson

Second row: _________, Bill Ernstes, Tom Litkenhaus

Rollie French

Photos taken by Bob Luecke, provided by Peggy Kersker

    In 1981, the Fairfax Firemen’s Association gave a new life squad to the village. The Association contributed $33,000 for the purchase of the vehicle and the village added $5,000 to equip the unit with radio and electronics gear. The department had 28 volunteers, at least six of whom had been with the department since its creation. Most of the firefighters were also certified as emergency medical technicians (EMT).

Fairfax Fire Department and Life Squad, approximately 1982.

Left to right: Dave Bromagen, Brian Gulat, Rob Suedhof, Ralph Heffner, Howard 

Hale, Bo Register, Tom Litkenhaus, Lou Ernstes, Paul Metzger, Ted 

Shannon, Bill Knabb, Joe Stern, Dave Fricke, Harry Nutick, Paul Klump, Terry 

Timmers, Jeff Stern, Charlie Rielage, Jack Reilly, and Bill Ernstes.

    By the late 1980s, it had become more difficult for volunteer fire departments, including Fairfax, to recruit younger volunteers. In a 1989 interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer, Fairfax Mayor Ted Shannon said that when he became a volunteer firefighter 29 years earlier, he was required to have 16 hours of first aid training, eight hours of advanced life squad training, and 36 hours of fire training. Now, basic fire training took 36 hours and was expected to increase to at least 60 hours. EMT training required a 120-hour commitment. In addition, there were fire and life squad runs, mandatory weekly meetings, and fundraising activities. By the summer of 1989, the department had only 15 firefighters, having lost three volunteers in the past year.

Cincinnati Post, August 15, 1989

Nancy Brumfield, Harry Nutick, and Joe Stern

Eastern Hills Journal, August 16, 1989

    Mayor Shannon had discussions with Mariemont Fire Chief Tom Driggers about combining resources. A 10-person committee with representatives from Fairfax, Mariemont, Columbia Township, and Terrace Park requested a feasibility study on creating a joint fire district.

     First, though, there was a more pressing issue. Mercy Hospital Mariemont closed on April 3, 1989. Life squad transports to an emergency room were expected to take three times longer than they had with a hospital in the area. This required professionals with a higher level of training than most volunteers had. Also, there were few volunteers available to make daytime squad runs because they were working at their full-time jobs. The Fairfax, Madison Place, and Mariemont departments initially contracted with the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for joint paramedic services. However, on April 1, 1994, the Eastern Emergency Joint Ambulance District was formed with Chief Driggers of Mariemont as director.

     Regarding fire services, Fairfax, Mariemont, and Madison Place committee members recommended formation of a joint district with a combination of paid personnel and volunteers. Terrace Park chose not to participate. First, Fairfax and Mariemont village councils and Columbia Township trustees had to approve the merger, then a tax levy would be placed on the May 1995 ballot to fund the joint district. The departments would merge only if the levy passed. The newly-created Eastern Emergency Joint Ambulance District would be absorbed by the joint fire district. Initial plans were to headquarter the joint district at the Madison Place fire station with a substation in Fairfax. The Mariemont station would close.

     Fairfax and Madison Place officials passed resolutions approving the merger (contingent upon equal representation on the governing board) and the amount of the tax levy. Mariemont wanted control of the governing board. Some Mariemont councilmembers, who were not on the committee, felt that the amount of the tax levy was too high. Ultimately, Mariemont did not join the joint fire district.

     The tax levy passed and the Fairfax and Madison Place departments merged to form the Fairfax/Madison Place Joint Fire and Rescue Department. Tom Driggers, who had been chair of the committee planning the joint department, resigned from the Mariemont Fire Department to become chief of the Fairfax/Madison Place department. The department would have both paid and volunteer firefighters. Chief Driggers said that having full-time staff would improve response time by three to five minutes per run.

     The Fairfax/Madison Place Joint Fire and Rescue Department began serving the community on January 1, 1996. Its first call was at 8:06 a.m. when a leak in the sprinkler system at a Swallen’s warehouse triggered an alarm. After over 38 years of service, the Fairfax Fire Department was no more.

     In 2003, the Newtown Fire Department merged with the Fairfax/Madison Place, forming the Little Miami Joint Fire and Rescue District (LMJFR). Newtown left the district in 2016. Golf Manor was part of the district for a few years. Currently, LMJFR serves Fairfax and eastern Columbia Township and provides excellent service to our community.

Little Miami Joint Fire and Rescue - Station 66

From lmfr.org

    Firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs are among the most respected professions in our country, as they certainly should be. They respond with professionalism and compassion during some of the most traumatic times of our lives. Most of our volunteer firefighters in Fairfax had families and full-time jobs, but still sacrificed their time to meet the needs in our village, whether it was extinguishing a fire, responding to a medical emergency, pumping out a flooded basement, or searching for a missing child. With the assistance of the Ladies Auxiliary, our volunteer firefighters also organized events to raise funds to help supply equipment, training, and other necessities. Their civic-mindedness and years of service to the Village of Fairfax is much appreciated.

Memorial plaque on the front of the Fairfax Maintenance building,

formerly the Fairfax Fire Station