A Little History of Mohawk Valley Joint Fire District

Located in southern Stark County, Ohio just 12 miles from the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, you will find the Village of Waynesburg and Sandy Township. Waynesburg is a quiet community of nearly 892 people, with another 3,659 people living in Sandy Township that surrounds Waynesburg. Though it is situated very close to Canton, which is home to the Professional Football Hall of Fame, the Waynesburg and Sandy Township area has remained relatively rural and kept its quaint small community charm, which is what draws our residents here. Though there are a few condensed neighborhoods throughout the community, it has largely remained open land, family farms and rural community living.

In 2015 the Mohawk Valley Joint Fire District was formed by combining the Village of Waynesburg Volunteer Fire Department and the Sandy Township Volunteer Fire Department. The newly formed joint fire district is also contractually responsible for the protection of Rose and Harrison Townships in Carroll County, Ohio. The district is made up of 25 dedicated volunteers and responds to alarms from a single firehouse located in Sandy Township. In 2018 the department made 310 calls for service, which was a 24% increase over 2017, and a 31% increase over 2016.

With the combination of two different fire departments, we find ourselves in a unique situation. Having the fleets of these two departments is both a blessing and a curse. Currently our fleet consists of 5 engines, 1 tanker, and 2 brush trucks. The curse is that the average age of our fleet is over 30 years old, with the oldest truck in service being 53 years old. This truck is a 1967 Peter Pirsch engine and is one of the nine pieces of equipment five of which are converted apparatus or homemade by the department.

There are four distinct communities that make up the MVJFD which encompasses 89 square miles in two counties. Along with the local, county, and township road transportation is accomplished on three state routes that pass through our community. Our water treatment facility serves 1 ,250 of our residents producing 180,000 gallons of water per day. There is also a single water tower that contains 225,000 gallons of storage. Stark County maintains a wastewater treatment plant that services 25,000 people.

The community is located in the western edges of the Marcellus Shale and in the heal of the Utica Shale Formations. The Marcellus Shale Formation is the largest deposition of natural gas in the United States, and quite possible the world. The result has been a rise in drilling and transmission of both oil and natural gas from these formations. There two 14″ high pressure natural gas transmission lines, along with two liquified petroleum lines.

Currently we have a total storage capacity of 15,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas, and 300,000 barrels of crude oil. There is also a crude oil collection facility, a gas and oil separation facility as well a transmission lines control facility. This capacity is expected to continue to rise, and additional transmission lines, and processing facilities will be located in the shale region including continued development of wet and dry gas infrastructure.

Our communities are home to five electrical substations serving 35,000 people in the three-county region. We are also home to 32 businesses with over a half a million square feet of commercial occupancy under roof. Sandy Valley School system has two buildings located within our communities totaling 200,000 square feet with a total student-teacher population of 1,575. There are over 100 farms of various size located throughout the four communities with over 150 grain bins or silos with various storage capacities. We also have 1 1 miles of waterways with a 130-foot-long, 15-foot-high dam. Communications wise the community is home to the county MARCS communication tower, 3 other public safety towers and 3 FCC towers that service the region.