Eagle district discusses response time, possible levy

May 20, 2019 at 9:53p.m.

HUBBARD

The Eagle Joint Fire District board discussed possibly placing a levy on the general election ballot to enable the fire district to have part-time staffing in the morning and early afternoon.

The fire district is a volunteer department serving Hubbard city and township, and firefighters are paid per hour. There are worries about response times suffering from lack of staffing, officials said.

Several volunteer firefighters attended the district board’s Monday evening meeting, and discussed their ideas and concerns with the board and fire Chief Ron Stanish.

Some firefighters said they believe taxpayers would be amenable to a new levy if it means more reliable service.

Most of the volunteer firefighters also work a full-time job, so the fire district needs more staffing to cover the daytime hours when volunteers are unavailable.

The proposal would put paid staffers on shifts but would also retain the volunteers.

Fire district officials are concerned about response times suffering from lack of staffing, or having to rely on mutual aid if not enough volunteers are available.

“My main issue is on a serious call for a house or structure fire, we need people here to do the job,” Stanish said. “It doesn’t happen every day but that one time you don’t have staffing and it happens ... that’s my concern, we want people to be safe.”