In his younger years, Joe Ferryman remembers looking up to his two uncles, both of whom served on the Lakeview Fire Department.
“My biggest dream was to be like my uncles and to serve as a firefighter,” he said this week.
However, when he graduated from Indian Lake High School in 1989, the roster for the Lakeview Fire Department was full, so he moved on to other pursuits at that time.
The now 20-year employee of World Class Plastics said during 2015, he received a call from his cousin, Josh Oakley, encouraging him to apply with the Lakeview Fire Department.
So Ferryman filled out an application and he was thrilled to be accepted for the new role, going on his first run on a memorable July 18, 2016.
“It’s been a great learning experience ever since that very first day,” he said.
This week, the Lakeview Village Council appointed former Assistant Fire Chief Ferryman as the new permanent fire chief for the department at a special council meeting Monday, June 16.
His cousin, Oakley, who has been serving for more than a year as the interim fire chief, has been named the department’s permanent new assistant chief. Oakley is also employed at Airstream.
Lakeview Mayor Elaine Fagan-Moore was pleased to announce the two new permanent hires for the fire department. Both Chief Ferryman and Assistant Chief Oakley have stepped up to lead the department through Lakeview’s recovery efforts from the March 2024 tornado.
“They have maintained excellent service for our residents and exercised fiscal responsibility,” the mayor said. “For these two officers, since taking charge, their spending for the period of 2024-2025 is down 30 to 40 percent when compared to the prior period of 2022-2023.”
Chief Ferryman is a level II firefighter and also is certified with FEMA for incident command system (ICS), along with specializing in training for extrication and search and rescue. Currently, the fire chief is attending classes at the Apollo Career Center to be a Certified Fire Investigator, and also is interested in being a fire instructor in the future as well.
“I love training and learning something new. It’s important to keep up your skills,” said Chief Ferryman, who is a member of the Auglaize County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
The ILHS graduate who lives just outside of Lakeview is excited for the opportunities in his new role.
“I love having the chance to serve the citizens of our community,” he said. “It’s a new chapter of my life, and being chief, while it’s a title, I don’t want it to be about me. I greatly admire the dedication of the men and women who serve with our department.
“I want to uphold our values of service through training. We want to strive for excellence in all that we do, and safety is our top priority.”
Continuing education and training for the department’s 16 firefighters currently on the roster are important to Chief Ferryman. In addition to the firefighters, a chaplain is on the roster as well.
Another goal of the new fire chief is community risk reduction, with plans to install dry hydrants in Stokes Township in the upcoming months.
“We want to be proactive in getting the dry hydrants installed,” he noted.
Chief Ferryman also expressed appreciation to all of the community members who have rallied together since the devastation of the tornado last year.
“There are so many citizens and first responders alike who have stepped up to the plate, and that makes us stronger together.”
