PHOTOS PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
CHARRED CEILING … Damage to the ceiling of the Swanton village offices is visible in a photo posted to the village’s Facebook page in the wake of a fire on Tuesday.
PUTTING OUT THE BLAZE … Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the Swanton village offices Tuesday in a photo posted to the village’s Facebook page.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
The Swanton Police Department headquarters are a total loss and other administrative offices were damaged after a fluorescent light ballast sparked a fire in the building Tuesday, January 27.
Police Chief John Trejo said an officer who was working on a computer station heard a pop in the ceiling and initially thought it was a bulb or the ballast going out.
Trejo said he came to check and didn’t initially see anything, but smelled smoke after walking back to his office.
He said the officer told him he thought there was a problem, and he then looked up in the ceiling and saw a flame against the wall.
“I got a fire extinguisher, and I tried to put it out,” Trejo said. “As I lifted another ceiling tile, the fire flashed over and went across the ceiling, and at that point we evacuated everyone out of the building.” He said there were six people in the building at the time.
In a release issued the following day, Fire Chief Cuyler Kepling said his department was dispatched shortly before noon, with the Delta Community Fire Department called for additional support after it was determined there was a working structure fire.
“Attic fires in structures with drop ceilings pose special hazards under normal circumstances,” Kepling wrote.
“Additionally, high wind conditions and frigid temperatures added to the difficulty of this incident.” As a result, engine companies were requested from the Whitehouse Fire Department, Providence Township Fire and Rescue, and Springfield Township Fire Department.
“While they were in the process of fighting the fire, we actually went back in to help preserve the evidence that we had in our evidence room,” Trejo said. “That was our most important thing to get out.”
According to Trejo, the police department has a long-term evidence storage room at another location, and evidence removed from the building was sorted and put on pallets, secured, and taken to the storage room by an officer along with street department staff.
He said they also removed village-owned firearms to ensure no ammunition could be triggered by the fire. Fiscal Officer Holden Benfield said he had just gotten back to the office and was microwaving his lunch when he saw Trejo running over with the fire extinguisher.
“About 30 seconds later, I walked back in to grab my lunch, and then I walked back out the vestibule, and I looked over.
The smoke had enough pressure that it was shooting out of hole it had dug and hitting the floor. Since smoke rises, that’s kind of crazy,” Benfield said.
He said he immediately went into action. “The moment the fire started, I pulled everything that we needed for day-to-day, making sure that checks clear and stuff.
“The laptop is safe, the bank fobs are safe, I pulled the checks out of that, so we have all our checks,” Benfield said. “Nothing burned obviously, our side wasn’t that bad.”
Kepling wrote that the fire was brought under control “following extensive fire attack operations.” I am proud of the efforts of all firefighters on scene and feel strongly that they did an exceptional job under challenging conditions,” he added.
“All Village of Swanton employees were able to safely evacuate the structure. There are no civilian or firefighter injuries to report.” As soon as the fire was contained, village staff immediately mobilized.
“We did go back in to try to remove important documents,” Trejo said. “We had everybody hands on deck – village works, water department, wastewater, everybody, all their crews were there helping us move filing cabinets, things like that.”
He also lauded the work of Village Administrator Shannon Shulters. “She was taking care of all the [public information officer] work, making phone calls, getting restoration places in motion already, anything that we needed was already going, so that helped quite a bit,” Trejo said.
Village staff formed an initial plan to co-locate the police department at the fire department and move the administrative staff into the community center next door to the damaged building, but that changed when it was determined the fire hall was too small to accommodate the additional department.
The plan now is for the police department to use the community center and the administrative staff to move into a rented office space.
Trejo said his department already uses a garage at the community center to park its vehicles and complete maintenance.
Speaking with Swanton Village Council members prior to a special meeting Wednesday night, Shulters said the village will sign a six-month lease for an office space at One Turtle Creek Circle at a cost of $2,750 per month.
She had visited the space earlier that day and said it needs paint and some other limited cosmetic work, but that all of the infrastructure they would need to operate is already in place.
The meeting was held at Swanton Middle School thanks to assistance from Swanton Local School District Board of Education member Ben Remer, who made the space available and helped set up the Facebook live stream.
By Wednesday afternoon, efforts were already underway to mitigate and recover from the effects of the fire, with Brightspeed on site installing a new fiber optic line at the community center, Cousino Restoration and Environmental inspecting the damage to determine the scope of building repairs, and an adjuster from Stapleton Insurance Group already having come and gone.
The server used by the finance office, among others, was also recovered and is still functional, though it will need to be replaced.
The council’s chambers – which has some smoke damage but was otherwise unharmed – is being used to clean equipment. A utility bill drop box located outside the police department will be moved to a new spot outside the community center.
A dumpster will be put in the old location, both due to its proximity to the damaged area and to keep curious residents from trying to take a peek inside the building.
The Water Resource Recovery Facility had a small spare printer on hand, which is being used by administrative staff until a full-size office copier/scanner/printer can be sourced.
It will be needed to complete utility billing, which was left incomplete due to the fire, with those bills already printed damaged by smoke.
Shulters wrote in a village release that signs are being posted to redirect deliveries as necessary, with the goal to return to normal operations by Monday, “pending restoration progress and necessary equipment setup.”
She noted that all the clubs, organizations, and scheduled renters of the community center and council room have been notified, and that utility billing should resume next week.
Residents will be able to use the drop box, automatic banking transfers, online payment, or call-in payment in the interim.
“I want to express my sincere appreciation to all village departments for the way everyone came together during this unexpected and unfortunate event,” Shulters said.
“The quick response, teamwork, and willingness to step in wherever needed made a tremendous difference. I am proud of how professionally and collaboratively our staff handled the situation.”
The Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office is now investigating the cause of the fire, and had already visited and inspected the site the same day it occurred.
All non-emergency inquiries can be directed to Shulters by emailing admin@villageofswantonohio.us or by texting or calling (419) 583-0616.