13/01/2022
Here is some helpful information from the Bethel-Tate Fire Department you may or may not have known...
Bethel-Tate Fire Department is a combination department made up of 12 full-time firefighters, 31 part-time firefighters, and 9 volunteers who are either paramedics or EMTs. The department covers 48 square miles protecting the Village of Bethel and Tate Township. The Bethel-Tate Fire Department is governed by the Tate Township Board of Trustees, Chairman Gary Reed, Bob Redden, and John Wilson. The Fire Chief is Rick Stowell, who has been with the department since 1978, and Chief since January 1, 2001.
The department has one fire station making over 1,900 fire and EMS calls each year which is the 6th busiest department out of the 14 fire and EMS departments in Clermont County. The department has 2 pumpers, 1 pumper/water tanker that carries 2,500 gallons of water, 1 rescue truck for auto accident responses, 2 field units for grass fires, 100' Aerial truck, a fire/rescue boat, an off-road Gator used for rescuing injured patients in wooded areas or any place where an ambulance can't get to, and 3 ambulances. We have 6 personnel in the station Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm, after 4pm, we drop to 4 personnel. On the weekends, we have 5 on station from 7am-7pm, then drop back to 4 personnel from 7pm-7am. The department relies heavily on our off-duty personnel, both volunteers and part-time to respond from their homes when another run comes in. It's not uncommon to have several runs come in at the same time.
The department's most recent ISO evaluation improved to a Class 3/3Y. This puts Bethel-Tate FD in the top 3,500 departments in the US to achieve this classification out of the nearly 30,000 departments across the country. ISO visits every fire station across the country and looks at equipment, training records, fire inspection records, fire prevention programs, operating procedures responding to calls, water supply, and dispatch center. Each category is graded, and the grade range determines what class you fall under. The class 3 is if you're 5 miles from the fire station and 1,000 ft from a fire hydrant. A class 3Y is if you're within 5 miles of the fire station but further than 1,000 ft from a fire hydrant. Since we have automatic mutual aid on all structure fires, meaning we have neighboring departments dispatched automatically when we are dispatched so ISO will give credit to those further than 5 miles from our station if you're within 5 miles of the neighboring station, which takes care of all our residents. ISO ratings are how your homeowners' insurance comes up with your insurance coverage rates.
149 North East Street Bethel, Ohio 45106
Station: 513-734-4444
