History & Stations

When it all began

The department was organized in 1929 as a reaction to insufficient service by The Canton City Fire Department. I fire in the spring of 1926 at a barn on 49th Street SW was the first incident to stir township residents. Six cars were destroyed while Canton Fire Officials were checking to see if the Township was paid up for its fire protection. By the time fire fighters arrived the barn was a complete loss. Another fire in the summer of 1929 was responded to in similar fashion. This fire at two Ridge Avenue homes brought matters to a boil and a special town meeting was called. The result of this meeting was the formation of The Canton Township Fire Department.

The six-member department consisted of Harold Domer, Ansel Drummond, Clyde McFarren, Howard Mottice, Harvey Stokes and Chief Harry Strobel. The department's first move was to purchase a 22 year old American LaFrance 40 gallon soda and acid truck. The truck proved hardly adequate to fight large fires but the volunteers were saved in 1939 when the state legislature passed a bill allowing township trustees to allocate money for fire fighting equipment. The trustees took advantage of the bill and the department benefited with a new 1939 Ford 500 gallon pumper and building materials for a new station in the North Industry area.

The department continued to grow as the need for fire protection became more obvious in the distant areas of the township. In 1944, the second station was opened in the Waco Area followed by the Meyers Lake Station in 1947. A forth station was built on Lincoln Street East in 1952. The fifth, and last station, was built on Sherman Church Avenue in 1961.

Today

The department currently operates with 62 full-time, part-time and paid-on-call fire fighters. We operate out of four stations with two of them staffed 24 hours a day. We have a fully trained fire fighter explorer post running out of a fifth station. We operate 5 ALS ambulances, 1 aerial ladder truck, 1 water tender, 1 engine rescue, 3 pumpers, 1 first responder ALS pumper, 1 dive rescue unit with 3 boats and 2 off-road grass fire units.