Sharon Township Firefighters During Vehicle Extraction Training

Pictured here are Sharon Township firefighters during a vehicle extraction training, led by then-retired Sharon Township Fire Chief Louis (Bud) Sanford. Sanford is shown with his hands on the roof and windshield of a car explaining the process to the firefighters looking on. Two people to the right of Sanford is Chief William (Bill) Fields, Jr., who at the time was a firefighter, and was later promoted to captain and then battalion chief.

Both Sanford and Fields joined the department first as volunteers before being hired as firefighters. Sanford became the township's first fire chief in 1961, a post he held until he retired in 1980. Fields was hired in 1978. In 1985, he was awarded Firefighter of the Year by the American Legion Leasure-Blackston Post 239. In 2009, he received the Citizen's Distinguished Service Award from the Columbus Division of Fire for his life-saving efforts at an automobile accident on April 18, 2009. He retired in 2012 after 34 years of service.

On January 1, 1994, the Sharon Township Fire Department was acquired by the City of Worthington. It has been renamed Worthington Division of Fire & EMS.