About - Our History - Our History | Deer Park Silverton Joint Fire District

Fire Protection in Deer Park and Silverton

The Deer Park-Silverton Joint Fire District was formed in 1999, but fire protection in these two Ohio communities started more than a century earlier.

Deer Park built its first firehouse in 1893, though official department records only go back to 1921. The Silverton Volunteer Fire Department served its neighbors for years before the Silverton Village Council formally recognized it in 1917.

Both departments ran entirely on volunteers. When an alarm sounded, firefighters left their homes and their jobs to answer the call

How the Deer Park and Silverton Fire Departments Began Working Together

For most of the twentieth century, the Deer Park Fire Department and the Silverton Volunteer Fire Department operated on their own. Each provided fire protection to its own community, and each later added emergency medical services.

As emergency calls became more frequent, and as the demand for EMS kept growing, neither department could keep doing everything alone. Deer Park and Silverton began sending crews to each other's fires through automatic dispatch, and they shared the work of covering EMS calls in both communities.

Sharing the work helped, but it did not solve the larger problem. As long as each department ran on its own, both had to buy and maintain the same trucks and equipment, and those costs kept climbing. Leaders from Deer Park and Silverton started meeting to find a better way to serve their residents.

Why Deer Park and Silverton Formed a Joint Fire District

After several years of planning, the departments agreed that a joint fire district was the best long-term answer. One organization staffed by full-time, part-time, and volunteer personnel could deliver better service and stop paying twice for the same equipment.

The plan went to the Deer Park City Council and the Silverton Village Council. The councils formed a committee to study it further, and the committee recommended moving ahead. In November 1998, voters approved the tax levy needed to fund the new district.

The Deer Park-Silverton Joint Fire District began operations on April 1, 1999.

Fire and EMS Service for Golf Manor and Columbia Township

The district has grown along with the communities it serves. In March 2022, it contracted to provide fire and EMS services to the Village of Golf Manor and additional parts of Columbia Township.

Today, the district protects more than 15,000 residents across about five square miles. The service area is mostly residential. It also includes commercial businesses, light industry, schools, nursing homes, Interstate 71, and the Indiana & Ohio Railway.

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