ROSSFORD – For someone like Assistant Fire Chief Josh Drouard, who visited fire stations with his father
every Sunday after church, being a fire chief would seem to be a dream job.
Mayor Neil MacKinnon III announced Thursday that he would ask council to approve Drouard at its next
regular session on March 10.
But Drouard’s promotion to fire chief comes as the department is under a shadow.
The current chief Jim Verbosky is leaving his post in March after it was revealed that he’d sent a text
message of a sexual nature to a female firefighter.
"It’s quite awkward, my friend," was how Drouard described the mood in the firehouse. Verbosky
still reports into the office at times.
Drouard feels he has the support of almost all the department’s 35 members.
The department is still trying to assess the situation a week after Verbosky’s retirement was announced
by MacKinnon.
MacKinnon said the retirement was in the works before someone sent a fax to area media outlets exposing
the situation and forcing city officials to address the situation publicly.
MacKinnon Thursday also said he would ask council to support promoting Ryan Stautzenbach to assistant
chief.
Drouard has been assistant chief, a half-time position, for just over 15 years, since Verbosky was named
chief. Drouard has served just over 26 years with the department.
He also works as a full-time dispatcher for Lucas County EMS, a position he will leave to take the
$63,400-post in Rossford.
The Rossford native said he remembers visiting fire houses with his father. Then, watching the TV show
"Emergency!" in the 1970s convinced him he wanted to be a firefighter. Since he was a teen,
he’d ride his bike down to visit the station. "I’ve been hanging around the place since I was
13."
In addition to addressing the morale issue, Drouard said the department also faces a continual issue of
how many volunteers it has available to answer calls during the day. At times, the force at the
firehouse is as low as four.
Another issue he sees looming over the department is the size of its facility. "We’re running out of
room here at the fire station," he said.
In the near future the city will need to consider "finding us a new home or remodeling."
Stautzenbach grew up in Rossford after his family moved there when he was young. He said he didn’t dream
of being a firefighter.
When he graduated from high school he had no idea what he wanted to do. So at the urging of a friend he
attended Owens Community College to study to be a firefighter. After a semester he applied or a position
in Rossford and was hired, and he found his vocation.
That was almost 14 years ago. He also works as a firefighter in the City of Toledo.
He said he sees his role as to "just help out any way I can."