Last month, 21 News reported on a handful of Ellsworth Township residents who weren't happy with their fire department. 

Their concerns center around slow response times and limited staffing but the fire department is now pushing back. Ellsworth Fire Department crews are laying out the data needed to prove just how reliable the part-time department is. 

Ellsworth voters passed a 5.77 mill fire & EMS levy back in 2022 that generated $420,440.40 in 2024 and $425,467.30 in 2023. However, some residents say staffing and department efficiency are lacking. Former Ellsworth Volunteer Firefighter Ken Hernan posted a statement on Facebook in March, accusing the department of slow response times.

"I don't feel as though in this case their concerns were valid," explained Asst. Fire Chief Jillian Smith. "I don't feel as though the manner in which they handled their concerns was fair."

"There was a lot of misinformation surrounding our department," explained Asst. Fire Chief Zach Williams. "That is disheartening. We've always told everyone they can come to the fire station and trustees meeting and ask us questions." EFD told 21 News Mr. Hernan is a disgruntled former employee. 

It took crews 30 minutes to be on the scene of a potential chimney fire last month, due to off-duty personnel responding. "We were short-staffed that day but we were able to find employees to come on a callback," said Chief Ted Smith. Mutual aid arrived within minutes.

"This incident came in after our day shift duty crew went off shift. Unfortunately, we were limited with staffing due to availability leaving calls to be answered by our off-duty personnel," said EFD officials in a statement. "Just like most volunteer, part-time, and even full-time departments, there are times where departments run thin. Majority of fire departments have automatic mutual aid agreements in place for incidents like these to ensure we have the appropriate response."

Data provided by EFD showed mutual aid responded to 17 of the 78 calls in the first three months of 2025. Mutual aid responded to 75 of the 530 total calls in 2024. Mutual aid responded to 55 of the 509 total calls in 2023.

"You're always going to have coverage it might not be us," said Chief Ted Smith. "It might be Berlin, it might be Green, it might be Jackson, it might be Milton, it might be Canfield. I don't want anybody to be scared that there is no coverage for you If we are short-staffed because of call-offs, we have surrounding communities like Berlin to help us," he said during Wednesday's trustees meeting. "There will always be someone coming because we have a system in place."

EFD told 21 News they take pride in their quick response times. In March alone they averaged 8 minutes and 13 seconds, which includes assisting other communities.

"Given the national average or if you were to look at other departments nationwide, for a part-time department those are excellent percentages," explained Asst. Fire Chief Jillian Smith. "For those times that we have a gap in staffing, we have a mutual aid response plan in place. The goal for any fire department is to provide fast service, 24/7. That is why we passed the levy. The levy was passed to have the funds available to be able to pay coverage 24/7 Just like every other department, Ellsworth has staffing shortages."

Some homeowners proposed Ellsworth joining the Cardinal Joint Fire District but Chief Ted Smith says that would be an additional cost to taxpayers.

EFD said it's their goal to staff the department 24/7 but they're already pretty close. In 2024 and so far in 2025, they were fully staffed 91% of the time. They currently have 35 employees, including four junior firefighters.

"What that translates to is you will always have a fast and appropriate response," Asst. Chief Jillian Smith added.

"We always hold our people to a turnout time of 2 minutes," said Asst. Chief Williams. "We look at all of our response times. We crunch those numbers and those numbers count towards the responses that we run on mutual aid. Sometimes we have a gap in coverage, but again, that's why we have a mutual aid plan."

Chief Ted Smith also commended the longevity of personnel, referencing some firefighters who have been with the department for nearly a decade.

The Ellsworth Fire Department invites anyone with concerns to stop at their station before turning to social media. "We have an open door policy," Chief Ted Smith said. "Contact me and we will sit down because I want to hear your concerns."

"For two weeks, we've spent our time trying to respond to the negativity instead of doing work that we need to be doing, in a productive manner," Asst. Fire Chief Jillian Smith concluded. "I am looking forward to putting this behind us."

No one at Wednesday's trustees meeting spoke out against the fire department.

The next trustees meeting is scheduled for May 14.