A woman was found dead at the door of a Fairfield Township, Ohio fire station and fire officials are pushing to have emergency call boxes at the community’s two stations to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
According to an article published in the local newspaper, the Hamilton Journal News, Carla Smith, 39, of Hamilton apparently went to the fire station seeking help but got no reply. A newspaper carrier found her body a few feet from the station’s front door at about 5 a.m. on December 22. The paper reported her car was running and the newspaper carrier called 911.
The carrier told the paper he banged on the door and it took a few minutes for firefighters respond. It’s estimated the woman was lying on the ground for at least two hours. Autopsy results are pending with the Butler County Coroner’s Office the paper reported.
Fairfield Township Fire Chief Tim Thomas now wants the community to install call boxes outside the two fire stations and the township’s administration building so people who need help can get it quickly, the paper reported.
Thomas said he envisions something that will allow a person to push a button and for emergency help. The township’s administrator, Michael Rahall told the paper he thought it would be best for the system to be connected to 911 rather than personnel inside.
Even though the stations are staffed round the clock, fire personnel could be out on a call or asleep and miss someone banging on the door, Rahall said.
He told the paper that although it’s a tragic situation, the fire station is not an emergency room and no one heard the banging.
Whatever action is taken, the carrier who found the woman would be grateful. Of finding the body, the carrier said; “It creeped me out big time.” He also said no one should die like the woman did, in a fire station parking lot.
