The OES visited Violet Township Fire Station 591 on September 25, 2016. The Pickerington Fire Department was established as a volunteer organization in 1934, about seven years after a massive fire destroyed five buildings and threatened Pickerington’s entire business district. The department purchased its first fire truck, a 17-year-old tanker, and stored it in a private garage until a brick single-bay structure was built at 22 North Center Street in 1938. That building still stands today and is privately owned. The fire department bought its first new truck in 1941 from the Ford Motor Company, which remains in service for parades. In 1953, Pickerington residents passed a bond issue to build a larger fire station and expand service to the entire township, and as such, the department was renamed Violet Township Fire Department.
The location occupied by the Violet Township House and community jail, built around 1883, was chosen as the site to build Station 591. The old buildings had been moved there in 1915, when the Carnegie Library was built on the front portion of the lot. Those buildings were demolished, and Station 591 opened in 1954 with an additional truck. Station 591 had separate addresses for each floor. The bottom floor, 21 Lockville Road, housed the volunteer fire department, while the second floor, 10 North Center Street, housed township offices. An emergency squad was added in 1955, and a rescue/grass fire truck was added nine years later.
The Violet Township Fire Department remained a volunteer-based department for the next thirty years. In 1986, the township hired Kenneth Taylor as the fire department’s first paid chief. He was put in charge of 26 volunteers and four full-time firefighters. Voters approved a levy in May 1988 to establish the Violet Township Fire Department as a full-time, around-the-clock department, hiring an additional nine full-time firefighters. This forced the township trustees out of the building. They turned the second floor over to the fire department in December 1988. The fire department partitioned the second floor into the configuration in the photos below, as it had previously been one big room with a separate restroom. The restroom had a few sinks, a toilet, and a communal shower until 2007, when it was renovated into two restrooms, each with a toilet, sink, and private shower.
The department continued to grow, utilizing the garages at the old service station across the street, at 4 E. Columbus Street, for extra equipment. Firefighters would have to run across the street to retrieve equipment if extra units were needed. This problem was resolved in 1996, when Station 592 opened on Refugee Road. As time went on and fire equipment got larger and larger, the township had to start special-ordering fire apparatus that would fit in the small bays of the 1954 Station 591. Residents passed a levy in May 2014 to help finance a new Station 591, with an additional $5 million in tax-exempt municipal bonds raised in December 2015 to expedite the construction. This meant the days of Station 591 were numbered.
Violet Township acquired and demolished Violet Grange Hall across from Station 591 in September 2015 to make way for the construction crew and to serve as the new Station 591’s parking lot. Two homes at 5 and 13 West Columbus Street were acquired and demolished in August 2016 to make way for the new station’s living quarters and offices. The original plan was to build the new Station 591 behind the current Station 591 and demolish the old Station 591 once the new building was complete. Those plans fell through due to logistical reasons, so the firefighters were temporarily relocated to the Violet Township Service Center at 490 Center Street for the duration of the construction. A double-wide trailer was purchased for the firefighters’ living quarters, and the township’s service center housed the equipment.
We visited Station 591 a few weeks before the firefighters moved to their temporary home. We wanted to capture what the station was like in day-to-day operation at the end of its life. The equipment was squeezed into the building. Engine 591 took every square inch available in its bay. The living quarters were pretty tight as well. The new station will feature more kitchen space and at least twice the living space, in addition to bays suited to modern firefighting equipment. We were shown the blueprints for the new Station 591, and it looked like it would be state-of-the-art, blending perfectly into Olde Pickerington Village. Station 591 was demolished a month after our visit on October 24 and 25, 2016. Sadly, we could not make it to the demolition. If you have any photos or videos of the demolition that you would like to share, please email . As of this posting in January 2017, construction on the new Station 591 is well underway. It is expected to be completed in early 2018. We hope to visit once it’s done!
A special thank you to Violet Township Fire Department Chief Mike Little for allowing us to photograph Station 591. Another thanks to Lieutenant Ron Metzger for showing us around and giving us the history of the station.
Location Information: Demolished
Violet Township Fire Station 591 was located at 21 Lockville Road in Olde Pickerington Village; Fairfield County.
Photographs
The two-story Violet Township Fire Station 591.
Station 591 with all of the bay doors closed.
Each bay door listed the equipment housed there.
The southwest corner of Station 591.
The back side of Station 591 faced west.
This tornado siren was installed in 2009, replacing an older siren that was located in the same spot.
The back entrance to the second floor of Station 591. A grill sat on the patio for good cooking!
The old address marker for the township offices when they were located in the building.
The back side of Station 591 as seen through the construction area.
There was very little space between Station 591 and the Carnegie Library (now the historical society museum) building next door.
There was only about a foot of clearance between the stairway and the museum's back entrance.
The northern face of Station 591.
This door led to the station's common living area.
A basketball hoop was at the north edge of the driveway.
Station 591's US flag.
The lettering above the equipment doors.
The antenna tower atop the station.
Station 591's mailbox and address marker.
This sign was on a utility pole near the bay doors.
The stairway from the equipment bay to the firefighters' living quarters.
The hallway from the stairwell to the common living area.
A map of Violet Township hang on the wall.
This hallway led to the back entrance and the stairway down to the equipment bay.
The common area room was lined with leather recliners and featured a large flat-screen TV.
The firefighters all chipped in their own money to purchase these items.
A large table occupied the other half of the common room.
The other side of the common area, looking toward the bunk room.
This wall commemorated firefighters who had served for Violet Township.
The wall included Assistant Chief Doug Barr, who died in February 2011 after a sudden illness. He had served with Violet Township Fire Department since 1990.
Another look at the commemorative wall.
A small office between the common area and the Lieutenant's office.
A copy of Windows 98 remained on a shelf.
The Lieutenant's office was in the southeast corner of the building.
Storage lockers in the Lieutenant's office.
The office also contained the Lieutenant's pull-down bed.
A more private room was at the end of the hallway for the female team member on duty.
The storage lockers of the personal room.
This 21 was above the bunk room. It is likely the original address marker.
There were a total of four beds in the bunk room.
Inside Station 581's bunk room.
Looking to the other corner of the bunk room.
Looking from the sleeping area back toward the common room.
A deer head was mounted on one of the bunk room walls.
This danger label was on one of the lockers.
The hallway that led from the common area to the restrooms and kitchen.
Inside the east bathroom.
Inside the west bathroom.
The laundry room also contained other cleaning supplies.
The ladies room was off of the laundry area.
The doorway to the kitchen.
A block O was painted on the wall leading to the kitchen.
The station's coffee maker was at the kitchen entry.
A cabinet across from the coffee maker.
The southern wall of the kitchen.
Station 591's kitchen, with an OES member taking a photograph.
The kitchen sink and dishwasher.
A microwave and toaster were in the corner.
Prep area in the kitchen along the west wall.
The kitchen's large commercial stove.
Looking out the kitchen window to the construction area for the new Station 591.
The east wall was lined with storage cabinets and the refrigerator.
A phone was between the fridge and the corner of the kitchen.
Decals on the kitchen cabinet.
Looking from the kitchen back toward the hallway and restrooms.
The locker area of Station 591. This was where the firefighters' gear was stored.
The gear was stored on shelving with wheels so it could easily be rearranged.
The lockers closest to the equipment in the bays.
This banner hang above the locker area.
A wide view of the locker area and the back of Engine 591.
You can see there was very little clearance above the engine, a matter of inches.
There was very little clearance on either side of the engine and medic.
Looking out to the trucks from inside the equipment bay.
Notice the height clearance of the trucks.
The new station will be built with much larger bay doors. We were surprised how little space there actually was.
Coming outside, you can see how tight a fit it was to get the equipment inside.
Standing head-on in front of Engine 591, we couldn't even see the bay door.
Engine 591 in front of its home.
There were only inches to spare from the top of the truck to the bay frame.
Another look at how little room there was to spare along the side of the truck.
A closer look at the vertical clearance.
The bay doors opened with Medic 591 and Engine 591 sitting in front of the building.
With the trucks pulled out, there wasn't much clearance in the driveway either.
A look at the equipment bay where Medic 591 and Engine 591 parked.
Drains ran down the center of each bay.
Grass-fighter 591 had no problem fitting in its bay along the north wall.
The station's extra medic was stored in the bay along the south wall.
The extra medic in its bay.
The front of the extra medic.
Some sort of hatch underneath the extra medic. We meant to ask what it was, but forgot to.
The side of Medic 591.
The engine was ready to pull back into the bay after a wash.
The dispatch board in the equipment bay.
This vent was dented long ago when a truck struck it while pulling into the bay.
A closer look at the dent.
A street map of Violet Township was located on the wall for quick reference.
The equipment bay's restroom and utility sink.
This was the exercise area. It was originally walled-off and used to store EMS supplies. The wall was removed and a tanker and medic were double-stacked in this bay for some time prior to becoming the exercise room.
The station's weight bench and dumbbells.
Another washer and dryer were located off of the exercise room.
Supplies were stored inside the closet next to the washer and dryer.
This box housed equipment for the station's automated dispatch system.
The station's radio equipment came into the building in this closet as well.
A cabinet inside the storage closet.
The phone cable to the Pickerington Police dispatch room.
Construction for the new Station 591 had already begun.
The construction area ran parallel to Park Alley.
Another look at the construction area.
Dirt was all that remained where two homes once stood.
Our last look at Violet Township Fire Station 591.
