Rossford Fire Department adds 4 members to full-time staff

ROSSFORD, Ohio — The number of full-time firefighters serving the city of Rossford continues to grow.

The department swore in four new full-time firefighters Monday night at the pinning ceremony. These hires continue as the department works to have an entire full-time staff, which was voted on by Rossford City Council last year.

Since then, the department has hired 12 full-timers — eight back in March and four on Monday.

Fire chief Rick Syroka says this means he has staff at the station at all times, which benefits the community. 

“It’s cut down our response times,” Syroka said. “That’s three firefighters 24/7 every day, and soon I hope to get another four.”

Monday night also marked another moment of history for the department with the hire of not only its youngest member, but also the first full-time female firefighter, Allison Robinson, who is just 19 years old.

“As a female, you don’t get a lot of representation in the fire service. It’s a predominantly male career,” Robinson said. “There’s not a lot of us out there, so I think it’s important to get representation out there and to show we can do just the same job, if not better.”

Robinson has been with the department for about a year and a half after starting as an intern at age 17. She then moved to part-time before receiving her full-time honors.

“It means the world to me that I am able to do more and be a real full-timer and show up and play my part and help Rossford succeed in this big event that they’re taking on,” Robinson said.

“All the members like her,” Syroka said of Robinson. “She has a history of working here, and they all got to see her previously work here.”

Syroka also encourages people interested in becoming a firefighter to obtain their certifications and apply, as he wants to have four full-timers on each shift.

But for now, he says he’s happy with the direction the department is moving.

“I’m very, very proud. We’re moving forward. With moving forward, there come speedbumps, but we’re handling those as those come up,” Syroka said. “We have a great fire department, a young fire department, and we’re trying to train them properly.”