Trauma and Death Cleanup in Vandalia and Butler Township

Interstates, the airport and the dam

I-75 and I-70 meet at the edge of Vandalia, giving it interstate links in all four directions. US 40 is the old main street, and the airport property lies right beside the city.

Taylorsville Dam, one of the Miami Conservancy District's five dry dams built after the 1913 flood, regulates the Great Miami River near the city, beside Taylorsville MetroPark. Roads near the river and the MetroPark can be slower, and rural township roads may be narrow for a truck.

ZIP 45377: the city, the township and Union

Vandalia's only ZIP is 45377, and its postal list also names Union, a neighboring city also carved from Butler Township. It covers the city's neighborhoods along the National Road and the old Dixie Highway, much of Butler Township, and the area near Taylorsville MetroPark on the Great Miami River.

If your 45377 address is technically in Union or the township rather than the city, the line still covers it at (937) 200-8811. Just name the street and the town so the provider can tell which department handled the call.

Police, the coroner and the property owner

The Vandalia Division of Police handles calls inside city limits. In the unincorporated parts of Butler Township, ask the responding officer which agency took the report, since you will need that information later for insurance or a victim compensation claim.

Deaths with no one present are referred to the Montgomery County Coroner's Office, an elected physician's office on West Third Street downtown. When investigators finish, they release the home. No public agency cleans it, so the owner, the executor or a landlord hires a private company.

Homes between two rivers

The city sits between the Great Miami River on the east and the Stillwater River on the west, on mostly level ground. Its roughly 7,100 housing units are a mix of post-war ranches, newer subdivisions, apartments and condos, with almost everyone living in the urban area.

Butler Township, next door, spreads 8,269 people over about 20 square miles, so its homes sit on far larger lots. A detached garage, barn or shed sometimes has to be included in a cleanup there, so list any outbuildings when you phone the line.

When a tenant dies in one of Vandalia's apartments or condos, the landlord usually needs to sort out belongings with the family before a crew removes affected materials, and should keep the lease and the police case number together.

What to do first along the National Road

Close the door to the affected room and leave the furnace or air conditioning at a normal setting rather than off or on high. In a one-story house near US 40, a single central return can carry odor through the whole floor in a day or two.

Make a short list before calling (937) 200-8811: the address, whether it is in the city, Union or Butler Township, who has keys, and which insurer covers the property. If a crime was involved, the state compensation program for crime victims may cover eligible cleaning costs up to $750; its staff can be reached at 614-466-5610.

The Crossroads of America

Benjamin Wilhelm founded the town in 1838, and it was incorporated in 1848 and named after Vandalia, Illinois. It earned the nickname Crossroads of America because the National Road, US 40, met the Dixie Highway here. Today I-70 and I-75 cross at the edge of the city in the same spirit.

The city had 15,209 residents in 2020 and is the closest city to Dayton International Airport. For decades it also hosted the Amateur Trapshooting Association, which left for Illinois in 2005 when the airport expanded.