MOUNT VERNON – The Fire Department held a ceremonial sendoff for the Paddles for Heroes group of kayakers who launched from Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge at Memorial Park on June 10, Christopher said. The kayakers will paddle all the way to Marietta, Ohio.
The Fire Department set up its ladder truck on the bridge with the American flag rising above the kayakers as they began their paddle down the Kokosing River.
“This year was in honor of Officer Thomas Cottrell, who had a line of duty death, from Danville, Ohio,” he said.
According to the Paddle for Heroes website, Cottrell’s “End of Watch” was on Jan. 17, 2016.
Fire Department hires second Kenyon College student
The Mount Vernon Fire Department has hired another Kenyon College student from its volunteer program into its part-time ranks.
Abigail Cavadil completed her Fire II certification and already had her EMT certification, making her qualified for MVFD’s part-time program, Fire Chief Chad Christopher told the Mount Vernon News.
“We actually have two Kenyon students in our part-time program," Christopher said. "The other one is Samuel Jankey. He’s also one of our part-time employees who transitioned over from the Kenyan volunteer programs.”
The fire chief said the Fire Department seeks box fans in the annual fan drive. He asked that community members bring new box fans to the 200 W. Gambier St. fire station.
“We take the fans over to the Interchurch [Social Services], and the Interchurch disperses as needed,” he said.
Response calls below 2022 numbers
Christopher said that response calls by the Fire Department this year are slightly below those in 2022. As of June 21, 2022, they had made 2,825 runs, with 85% of those being EMS calls. This year, they’ve answered 2,711 runs, with 87% of them being EMS calls and 13% on fire calls.
“A little bit down in runs this year from last year, but that’s never a bad thing,” he said.
What usually brings the number of runs up is a storm that results in 50 or 60 calls by itself, he said.
Police Department holds PAK United dodgeball event
The Mount Vernon Police Department’s PAK United program held a dodgeball competition at the Mount Vernon Energy Fieldhouse on Wednesday night, Police Chief Robert Morgan said.
Police investigating rise in vandalism
Police officers continue to investigate vandalism in the city, Morgan said.
“We are aggressively looking at people that are vandalizing our parks,” he said.
A couple of individuals have been prosecuted, and more are sought. The Police Department relies on cameras, reporting from the city’s park staff and reporting from community members.
“If they see something that they think is not right, then we’d ask them to call in,” Morgan said.
Morgan said the investigation is more difficult when the vandalism occurs early on the weekend, and police don’t find out about it until Monday morning when park staff arrives for work.
“It’s ridiculous that they just go in there for no good purpose other than just be destructive," he said. "I know the mayor is frustrated about it. We’re frustrated about it, but we identified people, and they do get charged."
The juveniles were charged with felonies for damaging the park.
“One of the things I’m truly grateful for is we have tremendous support from 99% of the community,” he said. “Obviously, we’re never going to make everybody happy all the time.”
When Police Week was observed a few weeks ago, Morgan said the outpouring to the department was phenomenal.
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