The Pebble Township Fire Department in Waverly has a working washer and dryer for the first time in its history, after a local rental business donated a stacked laundry center to the all-volunteer department, according to a report published Saturday, October 24. The gift gives firefighters a way to clean their gear at the station instead of carrying contamination home or waiting on outside help.
The department said the machines will be used to wash gear contaminated by smoke, soot and the chemical residue left behind by crashes involving electric vehicles. Those contaminants can cling to turnout gear long after a call ends, and having an in-house laundry option means contaminated clothing can be dealt with promptly, at the station, before the next run comes in.
Pebble Township is an all-volunteer department operating a single station at 330 Carl Penn Road. It serves the unincorporated township’s roughly 2,500 residents across about 37 square miles in northern Pike County, an area with no incorporated villages or cities inside its borders, bordered by six other Pike County townships and two in Ross County.
For a department of that size, everyday equipment gaps can matter as much as trucks and hoses. Volunteers respond from home and work, and the department has historically relied on community support to fill needs — its annual fall open house, held this year on October 3, offered a donation-only meal, auctions and a hog raffle to support operations.
The donation also follows a broader round of state investment in Pike County’s volunteer services. Earlier this year, the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of State Fire Marshal awarded $213,833.42 to five Pike County fire departments through its Small County Volunteer Fire Department Grant, including $50,000 to Pebble Township, to help smaller departments buy essential equipment, upgrade facilities and expand access to training.
Clean gear is a health issue as well as a housekeeping one. Smoke and soot from structure fires, and residue from vehicle crashes, can expose firefighters repeatedly if protective clothing is not cleaned between runs. A dedicated washer and dryer at the station helps the department keep that cleaning in-house and on its own schedule, rather than depending on facilities elsewhere.
The stacked laundry center, donated by Rent-2-Own of Waverly, according to the report, is now the department’s first working laundry setup. For residents across Pebble Township, the change is a small but practical upgrade behind the scenes — one that helps the volunteers who answer their calls return to service with cleaner, safer gear.
Photo: Aesopposea, CC BY-SA