Local businesses donate barn roof to Hinckley Fire Department

by Melissa Martin

A local Hinckley company stepped up this summer to replace the roof on the Hinckley Fire Department’s training barn free of charge.

Hinckley Fire Chief Jestin Grossenbaugh said the barn has been showing signs of wear for the past five years since shingles were blown off the roof during a storm. Though the department had been setting aside funds for the roof, the owners of Hinckley Roofing volunteered to donate the labor for the project, while two of its vendors – ABC Supply and the Medina Home Depot – donated the materials.

In addition to replacing all of the shingles, area business also replaced the plywood under the shingles, which had started to rot from exposure to the elements over time.

“We have great working relationships with the suppliers, so for us it was just a simple phone call,” Ed Walkuski, who co-owns Hinckley Roofing with Nick Walkuski, said.

Hinckley Roofing performed similar work for the Hinckley Historical Society approximately a decade ago when the former library, which currently serves as the historical society’s home, received a new roof.

 “For us to be able to do a little bit, it just makes us feel good,” Ed Walkuski said.

Grossenbaugh said the donation is particularly important to his department because there is no funding in the budget for projects such as this. He said the Hinckley Firemen’s Association has been applying for grants to fix the inside of the barn to outfit it will walls, hallways and doors, so that it resembles a small residential home. Once that happens, the department will be able to better train its firefighters with the help of a fog machine that can be used to create an environment that mimics smoke and low visibility.

Props representing trapped firefighters, crafted by a local Eagle Scout, have also been donated to the department to help facilitate training in the barn, Grossenbaugh said. ∞