By Ginger G. Golden
Derby Informer – November 1, 2013
Rose Hill Fire Chief Jim Woydziak stands in front of his department’s newest engine, a 2,000-gallon tender tanker truck added in 2011. The truck was one of several things Woydziak said has helped his department to earn an improved fire insurance rating.
Upgrades made to the fire department in Rose Hill over the past decade have been rewarded with an improved fire insurance rating.
The Insurance Services Organization has rated Butler County Fire District 3 in Rose Hill with a 5 for inside city limits and an 8b for Pleasant and Richland townships outside the city. The previous ratings given approximately 15 years ago, according to Lt. Judd Gifford, were a 6 and 9.
“Numbers two through eight all get lumped together because the big difference between a two and an eight isn’t much,” said Fire Chief Jim Woydziak. “Nine means, well, there’s a fire department. They may not have enough water, they may not have enough hoses and they may not have enough people. Something will happen, but it may not be much.”
Residents outside the city limits may see an increase if their insurance company uses the ISO rating, Woydziak said. Not all do. Jim Camoriano, spokesman for State Farm, said his company uses its own rating system.
“One of the things they count is how much water we bring,” said Woydziak. “If you bring at least 5,000 gallons, then that qualifies you to having a hauled water supply and that really helps your rating.”
The fire station in Rose Hill has a 2,000 gallon tender truck, its most recent purchase made in 2011, and two tanker trucks with a combined capacity of 3,500 gallons.
Rose Hill’s fire department began in 1957 with two trucks and was run by volunteers. That original brick building still exists to the east of Red Line Auto Repair in downtown Rose Hill. What is now Red Line Auto Repair was built as an addition to the fire department in the late 1960s, Woydziak said.
The first paid position was created in 1997 with the hiring of Chief Danny Armstrong, Gifford said. A paid position was added for a full-time firefighter in 2000. Gifford was hired to fill that position in 2002.
With Gifford’s promotion to lieutenant in 2004, a third paid position was added for a full-time firefighter. The fourth paid position was created in 2009 for a second full-time firefighter, Gifford said. Woydziak said he was hired as fire chief in 2009.
The current fire station opened in 2004. The district covers 71 square miles and includes a substation at the Pleasant Township building northeast of Rose Hill on 160th Street.
“We’ve hired people,” said Woydziak. “We’ve got people working during the day. We’ve got new trucks and new procedures. The city has added water mains and fire hydrants and our dispatch center has changed. All of those things get rated and we ended up with a better rating.”
The four employees work eight-hour day shifts Monday through Friday. An ambulance crew rents space at night, Gifford said, but the volunteer firefighters do not wait at the station for a call.
Lodging space was included when the fire station was built, allowing for future growth.
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