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Battle Over Future Of Escambia Fire Services Heats Up
April 16, 2015
There’s a battle of sorts heating up over the future of fire services in Escambia County. Will fire stations be staffed by volunteers? Paid firefighters? Both? Will fire taxes be raised for some, or all? Will fire fighters respond at all to an emergency at your home?
Good Friday morning, there were two house fires in the area served by the Ferry Pass Volunteer Fire Station, but no truck from Ferry Pass ever rolled to either fire due to a lack of volunteers at the time. Escambia County Administrator Jack Brown placed 24/7 paid fire crews at the station to “assist” the volunteers to ensure proper coverage for the district that includes ares such as North Davis Highway, University Parkway and eastern Nine Mile Road. The firefighters are being paid with funds already available in the county’s fire services budget this year.
In over half of the county’s 23 fire districts, volunteers are the first to answer the call for help.
A “manpower summary” report provided to NorthEscambia.com last week by Escambia County show nothing less than a dismal, even a frightening, response level by volunteer fire stations.
(article continues below report, click to enlarge)
That report shows volunteer firefighter stations did not respond at to one-third of all calls and missed 45 percent of critical incidents where life or property were threatened. Wednesday, the Escambia County Professional Firefighters Local union posted the summary information above online, and relayed it in a Twitter message to several media outlets. But now that report has come under fire as being inaccurate in regards to North Escambia stations.
Using the report as ammunition, the union is calling for paid staffing at more of the county’s fire stations, and they will push the Escambia County Commission for a $50 increase in the MSBU (municipal services benefit unit) to fund the firefighters.
“It’s a small price to pay,” Nick Gradia, union president said Wednesday. “It would increase the $85 now paid by each resident up to $135, but that’s less than many areas.” Gradia and union envision the county’s volunteer firefighters continuing their service, working alongside the paid firefighters for an even better response to emergencies.
“This is not about getting rid of the volunteers. This is about making sure there is a guaranteed response from the fire station when a resident makes a call for help,” Gradia said.
In North Escambia — specifically the Beulah, Century, McDavid, Walnut Hill and Molino fire stations — the numbers provided last week (above) show a poor response by volunteers, including a 47 percent “understaffed” response to critical emergencies by the Walnut Hill Fire Station.
According to Escambia Fire Chief Pat Grace, the “understaffed” response computations were based on any response where a fire apparatus did not roll out of a station with at least three firefighters on board.
As NorthEscambia.com investigated the county report, we found apparent errors as the numbers relate to the rural North Escambia departments. For instance, apparatus used in the north-end include brush trucks and, in Walnut Hill, a medical squad — all of which have only two seats and can never respond with three firefighters. At fire stations in the north end of the county, one firefighter may respond from the station in a fire engine, while three or more of certified firefighters may respond directly to the incident scene in their private vehicles, but that would have been included in the report as an inadequate response, according to county officials.
In a letter dated Wednesday to each of the Escambia County Commissioners, union secretary Dimitri Jansen said the report data (above) provided to commissioners “could be construed as incorrect”, specifically among the North Escambia stations. Other inaccurately reported data could show a non or inadequate response when a specific apparatus is dispatched but instead response was in a different vehicle, or, in the case of Walnut Hill, Century and Molino, the response came from the district’s substation, the letter states.
Jansen’s letter admits that the problem with insufficient responses is an issue with departments in the south-end of the county, not among the northern, more rural departments.
“Overall the responses for North Escambia have been very successful and should be considered a model for any fire district within Escambia County,” Jansen wrote to commissioners. “It has never been our intention to inflate or deflate the data we provided to you in order to further any agenda. It is both for the citizens of Escambia County as well as that of Escambia County Fire Rescue best interest to provide you and the public with an accurate analysis of the large gap in fire protection.”
Gradia said it had been brought to his attention that data for north-end stations might not be completely accurate due to reporting criteria and different response methodology, but a volunteer response problem still exists in North Escambia, despite better responses than south end stations.
“We are not as concerned about the north end where they are doing a much better job,” Gradia said.
With the $50 fire tax increase, he said the union would like to see an additional 24/7 advanced life support fire crew stationed in North Escambia, likely in Molino or McDavid, to supplement the volunteer response, along with a 24/7 paid crew already in place in Cantonment and a daytime paid crew already in Century.
But Escambia County Public Safety Director Mike Weaver disagrees.
“I see nothing in the near future, the next 5-7 years at least, that shows any additional paid crews are needed north of Nine Mile Road,” Weaver said. He said the county “manpower” report being circulated was inaccurate for the North Escambia volunteer fire stations.
An internal Escambia County public safety report obtained Wednesday by NorthEscambia.com paints an entirely different picture for several fire stations than the report circulated by the firefighter’s union.
(article continues below report, click to enlarge)
The report details response from all fire stations in the county during fiscal year 2014. The report was generated after each and every questionable response was analyzed in the county’s fire services software, eliminating almost all inaccurate data for each station.
“This report more accurately reflects the true picture of department responses,” Weaver said. Rather than showing 47 percent inadequate response by the Walnut Hill Fire Station, for instance, the newly researched report (above) shows Walnut Hill missed zero percent of calls.
“We should be looking at the northern stations, particularly Walnut Hill and McDavid, and see what they are doing right,” he said. “Some of these stations are a perfect model of how the volunteer system can work”.
Weaver said paid-only crews would never work in northern stations. For instance, if a paid crew placed in Walnut Hill responded to a structure fire in the Molino district, it would leave 200 square miles in the Walnut Hill district without any response. “You are always going to have to rely on volunteers at some of these stations.”
But one thing is clear on both reports — volunteer non-response at several south-end stations is a problem, and the volunteer only model is simply not working at those stations.
“It’s just absolute garbage that the union is trying to push out the volunteers,” Gradia said. “Nothing could be further than the truth. Volunteer and paid can work together and compliment each other in a fire station.”
In addition to Ferry Pass, the union is currently pressing for the fire tax increase to fund career crews to higher volume stations in Bellview, Myrtle Grove, Innerarity Point and West Pensacola.
“We know that changes are necessary,” Escambia County Administrator Jack Brown said. “The north end is doing fine, but we must do something to provide adequate protection to the citizens of the south end. We need stations in the south where paid firefighters and volunteers are working together.”
Escambia County Commission Chairman Steven Barry said the commission will begin to hammer out the fire services issues at a workshop meeting on April 23.
Pictured: Volunteer firefighters battle a full-involved house fire on Highway 97 in Davisville last November. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
40 Responses to “Battle Over Future Of Escambia Fire Services Heats Up”
I have been a Vol. In Escambia Co. for 20+ years. This whole issue has been coming to a head for sometime now and the powers that be have failed to address it. Several years ago when the Unification Agreement was signed there where provisions in it that stated County fire would provide and ensure proper training for the Vol. FF’s. This worked great for the first year or two but for the past 4 or 5 years there has been little if any training provided. The Paid crews do training all the time on vacant houses and buildings. Hardly ever is a Vol crew contacted and asked if they would like to join. They tell us that there are no qualified personnel to do the training. This is a bold face lie. I can count on two hands the number of paid and Vol. Firefighters that are more than qualified to do the training. But NO, The low little redhead step child Vol Firefighter is not allowed to. recruitment for Vol. Firefighters is a joke. A new applicant waits on average 60 to 90 days before the application is processed and sometimes longer, Once they reach there station its another 30 to 60 days before a physical is scheduled. And after that it’s sometimes a year or longer before a FF1 class is offered. Most become discouraged and quit by that time. Staffing is one of the top issues right now for the Vol. in this county. I can remember when each station had 30 to 40 members and some station like Sta7 and Sta6 had a waiting list for people wanting to join. Now we are lucky if theres 10 to 15 members at a station. All of this on top of how the Vol. has been treated paints a very nasty picture. I’ll give you one instance of the treatment…Sta3 Brent…A full time paid crew was placed in that station and some of the Vol. members stayed to assist. After a few years of there being both paid and Vol. FF at the station running calls, the Vol. FF’s where abruptly and rudely kicked out. A Batt chief (the same Batt Chief that was a long time Vol at that station and its Chief at one time) walk in and pretty much told them to pack there sh*t and get out. There not needed anymore. For far to long the Vol FF has had to eat Sh*t and say its delicious. No longer. It’s time to stand and fight. It’s time to end this sh*t show and get things back on track.
A few facts.
1. The county fire administration has spent $0 in the last 3 years on recruiting. They say it’s up to the volunteers to recruit. The same volunteers that spend 40+ hours a week running calls now needs to spend time recruiting. Not to mention those guys are firefighters, not recruiters or marketing professionals.
2. The county fire administration says they “don’t have enough certified instructors to train personnel.” And yet they expect volunteer numbers to replenish once they hire from the volunteer ranks. And where is our volunteer coordinator in all of this publicity?
3. The county fire chief is responsible for filling fire trucks and to throw volunteer stations under the bus on TV is disGRACEful to the position.
4. If medical calls are becoming the load of our firefighters then by golly hire some more EMS units. Simple math.
5. Volunteers are questioning their worth right now in escambia county. How in world has our “system” gone this far as to make them feel like this. Who is next? Our military? Wake up escambia county. “W” street is closing the books on volunteerism and they are doing it via union and our local news television station.
6. The volunteers have been threatened by the fire administration of losing their positions if they talk to the media or commissioners. The paid guys have union representation that let’s them bypass their administration.
7. Want to know what happens after our fire tax gets increased? Google “Jacksonville Fire Department Bankruptcy”
8. As someone stated below, fire fighters don’t prevent fires. Most of you do not know that Escambia only has 1 fire prevention officer and he only works part time. Rumor is he is resigning. 1 guy covering the entire county. Rediculous.
9. Call your commissioners today and let them know the problems have been going on for years. And it all begins and ends on W street.
It’s high time for a W street purge and ALL (paid and volly) of the firefighters to demand change.
I was a volunteer fireman for 20 years my dad was chief for 15.He always said when they first started the paid fire fighters and having to be certified it be the down fall of the fire service I belive he was right.Its not New York fire Its volunteer stop try ing to make it new York city.when union get involved you can look for stuff to go to crap.they need to get rid of all the union and county chief and start over
Let the governor pay them like he does his corrections officers pay them lowest salary in the country and never give them raises and to make extra money they can ride around on the fire trucks and sAle gently used fire extinguishers
If Pat Grace considers a truck fully staffed you need four firefighters on board , then the Question is : why is century station at times only ran with three paid Firefighters? I know that this is not the only station that has ran with only three firefighters. Don’t down the volunteers, I know several that have the certs to be a paid firefighter but choose to volunteer. For everyone downing the paid firefighter they all are not out to get rid of volunteers . I admit some may have that goal but that’s not true for all. I know cantonment is fully paid they work hand and hand with Molino several times , if you seen them in action you can not tell who is paid or who is volunteer. They both do the job very well.
EMS does not speak for the vast majority of EMS across the area. (this is my opinion, and those that I know who have read this is disgust) They are very proud of both the “Volunteers” & the “Paid” Firefighters. They are happy to have them anytime they come out. BOTH of them. They can not do it alone.
EMS, leave the politics to the politicians and don’t speak for everyone in EMS.
Firefighters: THANK YOU. EMS Appreciates you!
“if its such a small price to pay then NICK GRADIA can pay mine”
Shoot the messenger, right?
My roommate is a “career firefighter” and until I met him I had no idea what all they did. I didn’t know that every time 911 is called, the alarms go off at the fire station to respond, whether it is a fire or a chest pain call or if there is a “chirping” of a smoke alarm, or if paramedics need assistance picking up a patient , or if it is an MVA to use Jaws of Life to cut someone out of a wreck. They are there. Mind you whether it is 30 degrees or 100 degrees outside, they are wearing their “Bunker Gear” that weighs 70 pounds (I challenge you to try out for the Volunteer Fire Fighter position…LOL Good luck!!). Most times there are multiple stations responding, and even though the alarm was at 3:00am and they were half way there, and they were cancelled, they are still there!! They turn around and go back to the station. They bunk down and wait for the next call. No rest for the weary.
So my gentile observation on having “Nick Gradia” pay “your portion” of the MSBU is preposterous. Asking “Volunteers” to work a normal job and deal with every call is absurd. So either suck it up and pay for professionals to save your life or volunteer yourself and help out.
Buck up camper!!!!
I can help you apply for a volunteer position if you like.
Before we allow the county to take any more of our $, know some facts & let the county know how you, as a taxpayer feel. As mentioned before, don’t let the commissioners spend our $ without a voice. I too am still upset they put a 4 cent tax on my gas for a private bus company.
•Do you live in a volunteer or paid district? •How much you pay for fire services on your yearly taxes? •Is it fair to pay the same amount as every other district regardless of paid or volunteer? •Do you expect a standard of service through out the county? •Is this a structure system issue the FD must try to resolve internally before $ is thrown at a problem?
•Would you prefer the FD union speak for you?? If not :
•Know your district’s commissioner.
•Attend the meetings (April 23rd for fire services review) or contact your commissioner via phone or email prior with your opinion.
http://www.myescambia.com has all the contact information
I do know the facts that the paid firefighters don’t go to all medical calls and that they are getting EMT and Paramedic pay. If you read my comment I don’t once say that none of the county fire departments run medical calls. If you had a EMS Unit staged all the time in Molino Mom the Station 18 would not under the county policy of time frame for EMS to be on scene other than MVA’s would not get called out to medical calls.
Neither Paid or Volunteer crews “Prevent Fires”. They put them out. The problems seem to stem from the amount of calls increasing throughout the county. I know this might sound like I’m misguided or ignorant to some, but perhaps attempting better education on fire prevention to the public, more awareness on the benefits of smoke detectors and fire alarms. Perhaps we try to move toward the reduction of fires instead of the increase in taxes and paid firefighters. I’m not saying to ” do away ” with anyone’s job or role. I’m simply saying before we spend taxes in the upper 10 million dollars per year, let’s think out of the box and try to do something productive with the “PEOPLES” money and educate more, devote more time to installing smoke detectors and fire alarms. We used to really push fire safety in schools, townhall meetings, church fellowships, social events and public functions. Maybe if we reduce the amount of ” critical calls” we can lighten the demand load on departments throughout the entire county. Let’s get back to being public servants again. That goes from the TOP man to the BOTTOM man.
Has any options been explored before they decide to raise taxes?
It can be improved without raising taxes I’m sure…
First of all to JD-THANK YOU!
Now to EMS: I’m so mad I couldn’t even finish reading the comments here before I had to start typing!
You need to get your facts straight before you start popping your mouth off about Molino FD. They respond to medical calls-even those where they know the person is just calling to get a free ride to the hospital because they can’t afford a taxi! Or the “frequent caller” who is just a lonely old woman who wants them to come in and have a 2 minute conversation with her because she hasn’t seen anyone else in 3 months! And then there are the real medical emergencies that they respond to..the choking 5 year old, the 72 year old heart attack patient, the everyday occasion of Hwy 29 MVA’s………were you there for all of those Mr EMS?
How dare you!
And yes I do know this for a fact because my son is one of those firefighters. He cares about people and runs every call that goes out no matter what time of day or night AND he works full time AND goes to school. And he’s not the only one! There are several of these guys at Molino FD—-NOT PAID but doing it because they love it!
If you are truly EMS, thats what you signed up for, right? So, what do you have against Molino FD? …..they are doing YOUR job at no pay – are you doing it for free? Because my son is…and he LOVES it.
So, run your mouth about something you know facts on….and this ain’t it
>>Does this response data include “missed calls” where there was no response from the specific district, that was covered by a mutal company if they were already on another active call
It’s my understanding that was not counted in the second report in the bottom half of the article that lists all stations. Sta. 6, for instance, has 0% missed calls because if they were on another call, they would have not been dispatched. Same criteria on the volunteer stations. If a volunteer station was dispatched (not on another call), and a neighboring district had to cover, it would be a missed call.
Instead of jacking up the MSBU fee only for properties with house and/or other structures, the county needs to do so fairly for ALL properties.
International Paper owns thousands of acres of timberlands and pays about 6 cents per acre for fire MSBU.
Nature Conservancy owns thousands of acres and pays zero.
Yet we the taxpayer are the ones that pay hundreds of thousands to put out a fire on their properties.
Does this response data include “missed calls” where there was no response from the specific district, that was covered by a mutal company if they were already on another active call? I know, as busy as six and three are there is no way thier numbers are that even without out of ditrict companies coming to assist if they have several calls in thier areas. Is this equally reflected for the volunteer stations? How may of the calls listed as less than adequate response due to staffing or apparatus were due to manpower already commited to another call, perhaps not even in their district (such as a fire)? If the volunteers at 7 already had a truck out on an accident, and another call came out where E6 covered the call, was this counted against them? Each career station usually only has one truck staffed, it would be unfair to try and hold the volunteers above that standard as well.
Nick is ok with it because I think he lives in Santa Rosa County. The pay fire guys with their Union and Pat Grace has pushed the volunteers out of the fire stations. I was one when all the paid guys started and that has been their goal since they started. The sad thing about it over half of their paid guys were once volunteers and now that they are paid they think they are better then the ones who do it for very little money. Pat Grace needs to be FIRED cause he is going to promise things he can’t give to the citizens of this county. SMOKE AND MIRRORS is all the county is about.
Ems, you are so beyond wrong it’s not even funny. I know for a FACT that Walnut Hill FD runs nearly every medical call that comes in, anytime day or night. So before you go to spewing off bull, check your facts.
In the Walnut Hill, Bratt, Davisville area we have great fire and ambulance service. In most cases, faster than the South end of the country. We do not need to pay higher fire taxes. We have to pay the 4 cent has tax and naturally. NO SERVICE ON THIS SIDE OF THE COUNTRY. Tired of being taxed and getting nothing for it. No increase on fire taxes up here.
Well I guess if the county would invest some money in getting the volunteers the training they need there would be more participation. The biggest problem is they will provide training but only at times when most of us are at work. A lot of times the training we get is by other volunteers that are certified instructors. They say in one breath we need to recruit more volunteers. And the next breath it’s volunteers aren’t the answer we need more paid crews. This problem has been around for years since the so called “Unification Plan”. Basically paid guys get to treat us like we are less the crew they are. And to be fair not all of those guys are like that but a good portion are.When actually we have single members in our dept. Who have more experience than a whole crew of PAID firefighters.
If you want to make a comment educate yourselfs, if you don’t believe the statistics shown go buy a scanner and listen to it while your awake I believe most of you will change your tune quick. If you don’t wanna pay a little extra every year (I know things are tight) then take the time out of your wonderful life get certified and join your local fire station.
Nobody wants the volunteers to go away not even Mr Gradia and the union, they said so yesterday, it wouldn’t be possible or cost effective. There is talk of a 24hour centrally located ALS fire station to help run ALS fire calls when EMS is coming from a long way off like they always do. They would supplement the north end stations for the rare occasions they don’t have a crew and be there for events that require manpower.
For those that think all career firefighters and the administration hate volunteers your far from correct. Most of the career fireman started as volunteers. As an example, with the exception of 4 or 5 of the last 20+- fireman hired came directly from ECFR volunteer ranks.
To old man, they will probably, add it to your property taxes & if you can’t pay it they will take your property, which I feel sorry for people who lose their stuff from greedy people, as I too could lose mine one day, they shouldn’t be able to do all that, maybe they should be charging it to home ins, per call, that way all citizens wouldn’t have to pay if they didn’t make the call, as for now everyone pays w their property even though they may not have to call but if they did it per call through home ins, if nobody responded not only would they not have to pay for that call but they would save that money on property taxes, as it is now people pay their property taxes, that is included even if they don’t respond they still get your money
>>>And where are the records for Station 6???
The county only included volunteer stations in the first report. In the second report, they are listed
And where are the records for Station 6???
remember the 4 cent gas tax for E CAT this was started by the union and our beloved leaders jumped on it the public had no say about the matter now the F F union wants more my wife and i are disabled and in our 70s live on social security pay insurance on medical car and home and pay our taxes we have to eat pay utilites co pay on med at the end of the month we have nothing left now i ask you where are we going to get the 50 dollars extra to pay the increase in fire tax we are not the only people facing this problem the fire service from cantonment north do an out standing job my family have had to call them a few times and they were there they were prompt proffesional and nice IF IT ISNOT BROKEN DONT MESS WITH IT
It’s a no-brainer for someone who isn’t a politician. Take some of the money that is being wasted (don’t lie now and say nothing’s being wasted) and fund these paid positions. Guess what? You just created jobs (something this poor county always needs) and you have just made things safer for everyone. Now when re-election time rolls around, and you have to do some work again, run your mouth constantly about how you created jobs and kept everyone safe. Presto! You remain a career politician.
What about the abuse of the 911 system. People call for assistance because they dropped their remote and are to fat to bend over. or going to West Florida to assist loading and unloading patients in and from the ER. Crews going into a hospital to help load patients onto gurneys because no help from staff. How about the West Pensacola Fire station living condition it was flooded a year ago and no repairs to the building. Sure the sheet rock was ripped out but that has lead to mice rats and water roaches running through the building unsanitary is an understatement. Volunteer personnel are forced to live in a place that should be closed until it’s fixed properly. Calls at that station go unanswered because crews are refusing to stay there at night. County can pour up to 12 inch concrete slabs in parking lots but this is on the back burner. Let’s not talk about how Volunteers are segregated and discriminated against that’s for another time. But hey Nick how about bring up the whole story as to what’s causing no responses ohh and I’m no rocket scientist but maybe hire some people that can lift more than 50 pounds in EMS and put more crews in to run YOUR FOR PROFIT DEPARTMENT
You would not expect the garbage guys to do it for free or EMS or even the Sheriffs office. Pay them for the job bottom line.
@ tired of taxes. Why do we need to single out a good man, husband, father, & fireman? Leave Nick Gradia out this issue please. Better yet if you want to throw him under the bus, why don’t you be a mature adult & use your name? Thx.
Please leave the stations from molina north alone. Just give these guys the equipment and such that they need and stop trying to fix something that is not broken. Maybe an increase in their showup stipen or whatever you call it. I have seen Walnut Hill in action first hand and they are great.
I knew this was going to happen. “More, More, More”. There will never be enough. I knew when we hired the first paid firefighter that there would be trouble with the volunteers’. I vision that there would be a slow withdrawal of the volunteers’. The volunteers’ were doing a great job, but when paid men starting working beside them you could see them dwindle. Ferry Pass was once a paid station (I believe) but was change back to a volunteer station by the fire chief some years back. Every couple of years this comes up before the board as a dire need and ends of costing the residents more money. I bet and someone remember I said it, We will be paying around $4oo dollars a year for fire protection that was once volunteers’ and was working pretty good. It was not perfect but todays Fire dept. is not either. They are going to nickel and dime us to death. “REMEMBER” when the Government gets involved in something they will run it in the ground. Spend, spend, and spend.
All over the country the concept of manning stations (especially rural) with a duel trained crew manning an engine and an ambulance. This concept works because the crew can handle the majority of calls within their jurisdiction without incurring a heavy call load. In this county there seems to be a three way turf war of sorts going on between EMS, Vol. and Paid Firefighters. The sitting County Commission doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to show the leadership to correct the problems. Meanwhile here in Bratt, we depend on an ambulance coming from Atmore, and a fire crew coming from who knows where. I for one will fight any increase of the fire tax if all the revenue from it are sent to the south end of the county. Let us look at ideas to improve Fire and EMS services in the WHOLE county.
Just last week Chief Grace said there had to be 4 on a fire truck to be considered fully staffed. He said it in WEAR story of the good Friday fire. There are paid trucks our there that only have 3 on them. Now they are wanting more money to run all these med calls with 4 firefighters on a fire truck? Why not 2 paramedics on an ambulance? Why is there no push from our director of public safety for more EMS crews? Mike Weaver we are waiting on an answer.
EMS you are so wrong. I worked for ECFR for 8 years and took pride in EVERY call we ran. I wanted to run every call. Medical or fire I didn’t care. I just re lived the factor I was helping someone. So take your arrogant comments somewhere else. Yes fire trucks go to the store with the fireman. Just like the ambulance goes with the emts to McDonalds. We have to eat to. And yes we get paid more to be an emt or medic. As we should be. But for you to say we don’t like running med calls is stupid. We jump at the chance to help anyone with anything
if its such a small price to pay then NICK GRADIA can pay mine
>> The fire department does not respond to HARDLY any medical calls to people’s houses
A true statement in the southern portions of the county. But in the north, except for Century if the EMS unit is available, the northern departments respond to almost every medical call.
The public needs to know that the fire chief has made it clear that they will not respond to all calls. The fire department does not respond to HARDLY any medical calls to people’s houses because of the money it cost but they can take their fire trucks all over the county to do other things and go to the grocery store or the the gym and it cost money to do that but it’s ok. Some the firefighters are getting paid extra to be EMT and Paramedic’s but they don’t want to run any medical calls and want to leave it all up to Ems to do. It may take EMS 10 to 30 minutes to get to someone having medical problem but the fire truck can be less than a block away and they will not respond most of the time. I am against paying more for a half ass service.
I have no problem having my fire tax raised a reasonable amount so every fire station can be maned 24/7. Offer these paid positions to the volunteers first for their loyalty over the years. Any open positions hire from the out side. Any volunteer that wishes to stay a volunteer can. I just hope the county doesn’t screw this up.
I have always wondered why Escambia County had money to waste on festivals, tourism….but none for fire departments or police departments. Our volunteer fire fighters are the very best, but we also need paid fire departments.
As always, the “union” wants more of the tax payers money. The union says, it’s a small price to pay, but if your on a fixed income, it’s an impossible amount to pay. A fifty dollar increase to the fire tax is a burden to the tax payers. We pay, we choose for what, not some union pusher.
Before the county decides that the only way to fund additional paid fire-fighters is by increasing the MSBU, maybe they could opt to keep the current MSBU amount and add a user fee. This wouldnt be any different that what is done with EMS, who are funded with ad volerum taxes and they still “bill” for services rendered.