By William Tilton
The News-Herald
WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — An anonymous donor is helping the Willoughby Fire Department continue its dedication to keeping the community safe.
A 2023 Chevy Tahoe, ordered in October 2022, has finally been placed it in service to allow battalion chiefs to respond to emergencies in the city.
According to Willoughby Fire Chief Todd Ungar, that purchase of a necessary command vehicle for the department is a direct result of anonymous donations in 2020 and 2021 that the department received in excess of $49,000, and their only request was for it to be spent on fire equipment.
“That’s a sizeable amount of money that could’ve been used a variety of ways, especially for things like fire hose or other equipment that we need to purchase,” Ungar said. “However, I wanted the money to be used for something tangible that whoever gave us the money would be able to see, and not a piece of equipment that’s sitting in a compartment.”
“The vehicle our battalion chiefs drive is a very visible piece of equipment that responds to any significant emergency in the city and on mutual aid runs,” he added. “They ultimately take command of emergencies and maintain order, so to speak, to ensure the public and our personnel remain safe and mitigate the emergency.”
Ungar said vehicle acquisition is currently a challenge and it’s almost a “crapshoot” when any of the manufacturers decide to slow or halt production, increase the price or predict how long up-fitting will take due to the availability of electronic components.
“We ordered the 2023 Tahoe in October of 2022 and finally placed it in service over a year later — and I think we were pretty lucky it didn’t take longer than that,” he said. “At any rate, this is a welcome addition to our department and will allow us to replace an aging vehicle in our fleet.”
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