An emergency medical helicopter company is opening a new helicopter base just outside Marion.
Survival Flight, which provides medical flights to critically injured patients, is opening a base just east of Marion, at one of 1st Consolidated Fire District's outlying stations, at the corner of Ohio 309 and Pole Lane Road.
The base is opening as Survival Flight shut down two of its bases in the Columbus area and moved them to the Marion site and to a site just outside Circleville, said Survival Flight spokesman Ryan Stubenrauch.
First Consolidated Fire Chief Clint Canterbury said the base is "awesome" news for Marion County and will cut down on flight times to deliver critically injured patients to trauma centers in Columbus.