GOSHEN TWP., Ohio — A brand new building for the Goshen Township Fire Department sits at the intersection of State Route 28 and Goshen Road.
“Definitely a breath of fresh air, and it's going to be much safer for the firefighters," Goshen Township Fire Department Chief Edward Myers said.
The department's previous station was used for more than 40 years before it was destroyed by a tornado in 2022.
The EF2 tornado touched down in Goshen in July 2022, damaging hundreds of buildings across the township. The natural disaster decimated the old fire station.
“I was out about, looking at some equipment for some training over a class that was coming up, just a few minutes away from here, when I heard the captain call and say that the station had been hit by a tornado," Myers said.
Watch to get an inside look at Goshen Township's new fire station:
Thursday morning, I spoke with Goshen firefighter Ashley Patrick, who was working at the station the day the tornado hit.
“Parts of the bay were getting wrecked, we had to make sure our guys were safe," Patrick said.
Patrick and her fellow firefighters had to care for each other and the whole community.
In the months and years that followed, some of the team had to work in a temporary facility until their new home was built.
“I can’t say enough about the men and women of Goshen Township Fire and EMS, they’ve been very resilient," Myers said.
Crews broke ground on the project in 2024, and the process of getting the fire station up and running has continued ever since.
The new facility includes dorms, a gym, a kitchen and a lounge space for firefighters, complete with special ways to track the health and wellness of team members.
Myers' office is back in the station with his fellow firefighters. The chief said that he had temporarily been in the township's administrative building following the tornado.
The new department is a space that's been built to give the men and women who make up the team a special place to work and thrive.
"We try to customize it as much as we can to make it feel like home," Myers said.
“It feels phenomenal, finally (being) able to be back in town, where everybody can see us and have a space that we can call home," Patrick said.
The fire department is hosting a ribbon cutting at 1 p.m. Friday, as well as a public open house from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
