LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio --

The Liberty Township Fire Department is hoping voters will approve a levy on the ballot, on February 5, in order to save the department from shutting down.

The department has already had to cut 20 percent of its staff, including four layoffs since the last levy failed last November. Trustee Curt Sybert says the levy last fall lost by 70 votes but hopes the lower cost will help it to pass this time around.

The new levy's passage is a mission for Becca Mount, of Powell, who is with the group Save Our Services.

Mount says six years ago, the Liberty Township Fire Department arrived at her home in less than four minutes when her then 18-month-old daughter suffered a seizure.

"It was the most devastating moment of my parenthood. To see your child seizing on the bathroom floor and not be able to help is just absolutely frightening. Now, with the fire department in jeopardy I can't imagine making that phone call and not knowing who was going to make that call to my house and how long it would take to get there," Mount said.

Mount's daughter Hadley, who is now 8-years-old, is OK.

The current levy would cost the owner of a $300,000 home about $7 a month. That's less than half of the cost of the levy voters rejected last fall.

Sybert says even if the current levy passes, the fire department will still be operating with a 20 percent reduction in staff.

Firefighters say response times will also double or triple if the levy fails and the department shuts down. Liberty Township encompasses both firefighters and paramedics. If it closes paramedic services would fall to Delaware County however response times would greatly increase according to Sybert.

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Liberty Township Fire Department Struggles With Layoffs