By Michael N. Ciampo
The Northwood is located in Wood County, Ohio. It is a suburb of the Toledo and sits just southeast of the city. It is also situated in the Maumee River Valley region. In earlier times, the area comprised water masses that have dried up. In turn, the rich lake sediment soil makes the area well known for its farming, produce, and orchards. The area also has a robust network of train tracks that were used to transport the fruits and vegetables to market. Today Northwood is a striving community of single- family homes, townhouses, condominiums, and light commercial occupancies. The city was once know as Ross Township but was renamed Northwood when it became a "home rule" city; its name is derived from the city being the northern most part of Wood County.
The Northwood (OH) Fire Department provides fire, rescue, and emergency medical services to its citizens. The department operates out of two stations: station 82 and 83. It is a combination department with two firefighters on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week and a part-time and paid-on-call staff. The department is directed by a part-time chief who oversees all operations of the department. The chief is assisted by a part-time deputy chief, a district chief, and a captain. The two paid 24/7 firefighters respond to all runs, perform day-to-day tasks in the firehouse and maintenance to the equipment and apparatus, provide fire prevention duties, and handle public relations affairs. The department covers portions of Interstates 75 and 280. The department provides automatic and mutual aid to surrounding cities and towns. The department is also very fortunate to still have its first piece of fire apparatus, a 1945 Ford with a 1946 Mercury flathead engine and 800-gallon tank. The apparatus, known as "Old Betsy," was originally donated to the department by the Hirzel Canning Company. To see photos of this and the department’s other apparatus visit www.northwoodfire.com
This edition of "Compartment Corner" covers Northwood's Engine 83, a 2017 Pierce Impel PUC rescue-engine with TAK-4 suspension, a 750-gallon water tank, and 30-gallon Class A foam tank. Engine 83 is equipped with a raised-roof cab and roll-up compartment doors. Also on the upper portion of the rig are coffin compartments that hold various types of tools and larger pieces of equipment. It has a TFT Hurricane electronically controlled deck gun on the top of the body and a light tower on top of the cab.
The unit is painted red with a large white and small gold reflective stripe running along the bottom of the cab and crew cab. The stripe then continues low onto the first roll-up door where it reverses and goes into a diagonal upward pattern. Then it continues horizontally across the upper section of the body to the rear of the apparatus. On the front cab doors is the department patch, and on the rear roll-up compartment doors is a 9-11 memorial tribute consisting of the American Flag, a Bald Eagle, and the Twin Tower skyline with 343 embedded over the towers. On the crew cab doors in gold leaf stickers are the unit’s ID, Engine 83, and with the same stickers Northwood Fire/Rescue is on the upper portion of the rescue body. The fron