Council tables SAFER grant
The Pea Ridge Volunteer FireEMS Department is completely dependent on volunteers for fire calls.
Fire Chief Jack Wassman is trying to change that and is seeking to make the department a combination department — one with paid staff to man the station 24 hours a day with personnel to take the ambulance or fire engine to a call which would also be answered by volunteers.
At the City Council meeting Tuesday, June 16, Wassman presented a proposal to the council members asking for approval to be involved in the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant (SAFER) program.
“We’ve been working on this about the last 11 months… to transition from 100% volunteer to a combination department,” Wassman said, explaining that Pea Ridge will probably always be a mostly volunteer department but that transitioning to a combination department will help the city, city residents and department in many ways.
The SAFER grant is a federal grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency that allows volunteer fire departments to transition from completely volunteer to combination or fulltime departments.
“We all know the city of Pea Ridge is growing at a tremendous rate,” he said. “We know there are potentially 1,000 building lots now. The impact of that, with a national average of 2.8 persons per household, creates a potential of adding over 3,000 people to this community, so the need for the Pea Ridge Fire Department to be full-time is ever growing.”
Wassman said the department currently hires two full-time emergency personnel — a paramedic and an emergency medical technician (EMT) 24 hours a day 365 days a year. That fulfills a state requirement to manage an advanced life support ambulance. There are also two firefighters paid to work in the station from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
Of the paid emergency personnel, they are all “100% part-time,” meaning each of them work on a rotating basis in Pea Ridge, working full-time in other departments, Wassman explained.
The firefighters are available to go on both medical and fire calls during the day, but also handle maintenance, and required fire hose testing, fire hydrant testing and maintenance, pumper service testing and training document.
“For a volunteer department, that documentation and maintenance is very hard to get done,” Wassman explained Friday. He
said many volunteer departments hire outside companies to manage that. “It’s very expensive, but it’s one way to get it done. With us having fulltime personnel in house, they can be working on this stuff daily throughout the year.”
Wassman told city officials that accepting the grant would provide salaries for personnel in house 24 hours a day 365 days a year and would guarantee staff on the ambulance as well as on a fire engine. He said that would guarantee a response time of under four minutes and would provide a valuable asset towards lowering the ISO rating. “Within the next 24 months, Pea Ridge will go through an ISO audit,” he said, explaining that many factors are taken into consideration including training records, vehicle maintenance, water service, hydrant, inspections, hoses and staff. “It’s a benefit to the citizens once we lower our ISO.”
The SAFER grant would pay the salaries of two medical personnel and two firefighters seven days a week 24 hours a day. He said with the city currently paying salaries, the savings, if managed carefully, would make the grant pay for itself in five years.
Wassman said he had discussed the grant with Mayor Jackie Crabtree and both agreed the timing was right for it.
“We’ve already applied for the grant,” he said, adding that they are not required to accept it.
Referring to the fifth year when the city would pay the salaries, council member Ray Easley, a former member of the Fire Department, asked: “What if we can’t afford that, then what do we do?”
Wassman told him that with the growth in the city, the potential for business and revenue growth are there. He said the only obligation is to maintain the status for the four-year period the grant is received.
Easley asked if by receiving the grant and hiring personnel there would be a need to take the community room to turn into residential space for personnel. Wassman said there was but he had found a potential grant to cover that cost.
“This is a mixed thing for me. We won’t have room for the community room,” Easley said, adding that he served 17 years on the Fire Department. He said a lower ISO rating is good for the city residents but it doesn’t pay the bills for the city. He also asked about providing gear to the personnel if they’re hired. Wassman said he had a plan in place that he wanted to present next month for providing the gear at no cost to the city.
Mayor Crabtree said more people from outside the city use the community room because the cost is lower than facilities in neighboring cities.
Council member Cody Keene asked what the city’s five-year projected population is.
Crabtree said it’s estimated to be around 8,000 in 2030.
“How many structures do we service in the city?” Keene asked
Wassman said 150 businesses in addition to residences.
“How many structure fires have we been on in the last 18 months?” Keene asked.
Wassman said he didn’t have those numbers but agreed the majority of calls are medical.
“You get a lot of fall calls, alarm calls. It doesn’t really justify all those guys at one time,” Keene said.
Council member Steve Guthrie, a member of the Fire Department, said the fall calls are actually “the worst” as far as workmen’s comp.
“Good job, thanks for finding this for us,” Guthrie said to Wassman.
Easley and Keene advised tabling the issue until next month. Keene said he wanted to get the information “out in front of people a bit” before voting on it.
“Our development is here,” Crabtree said. “People are coming in to build developments. They look at emergency services. If they know we’re trying, they’ll look more favorably on us.”
“The citizens have pushed us for years to do more for the Fire Department,” Guthrie said, “and this is one way and it’s not costing us a lot.”