Now comes proof that great minds do indeed think alike. Reprinted this week is a column I wrote quite a few years back. In this and other columns, I have more than once made the same argument that was made in the Weekend edition of the Express. What I said then still goes today.
The story in Sunday’s edition of the News Express concerning the six fire departments in our area that are getting federal grant money is good news, indeed. There are few jobs as difficult as the one running a rural fire department, but when you find yourself constantly in need of funds, the job is made exponentially more difficult.
I am not at all surprised to see that several departments are using these funds to purchase new trucks. The fire truck is, after all, the most important tool in the department’s arsenal, and I’d bet that many departments are in the same boat as the one here at Feds Creek, in that their fire-fighting apparatuses are getting a bit long in the tooth, to say the least. Feds Creek’s main pumper is a 1978 model Chevrolet, and its back up is a 1978 GMC tanker.
If you want to know how much area departments are hamstrung by these older pieces of equipment, compare any 1978 car or truck to their newer counterparts, and you will see how far technology has advanced in the interim. The same thing is true of fire trucks, and anything newer would see a vast improvement in the fire protection that the departments could offer this area.
There is a Kentucky law on the books that allows fire departments to establish a subscription fee for their service areas. This fee, payable once a year, is usually $25.00 for residences, and $50.00 for businesses. The only hang-up is that the fee is not a mandatory one, like the property tax that is also widely ignored in this county, so that most departments that have instituted this fee still find themselves short of funds.
The need for fire protection, alas, is lost on most people unless it is their home that is burning; ergo the fire services are often neglected. Of course, the fee system mentioned above is an absolute bargain if the return is viable fire protection, yet many find even this pittance too much to pay, but there is a way to help fund these departments to the fullest extent possible.
Instead of the afore-mentioned subscription fee, if some well-meaning legislator from our area would propose a bill that would set a fee of $2.50 per month ($5.00 for businesses) to be added to electric bills, and then passed on to the area fire departments, no local department would have to depend on the odd federal grant to keep its financial house in order. Plus there would be the added incentive for area residents to attend each fire department’s monthly meetings to see how their contribution is used
I am not at all surprised to see that several departments are using these funds to purchase new trucks. The fire truck is, after all, the most important tool in the department’s arsenal, and I’d bet that many departments are in the same boat as the one here at Feds Creek, in that their fire-fighting apparatuses are getting a bit long in the tooth, to say the least. Feds Creek’s main pumper is a 1978 model Chevrolet, and its back up is a 1978 GMC tanker.
If you want to know how much area departments are hamstrung by these older pieces of equipment, compare any 1978 car or truck to their newer counterparts, and you will see how far technology has advanced in the interim. The same thing is true of fire trucks, and anything newer would see a vast improvement in the fire protection that the departments could offer this area.
There is a Kentucky law on the books that allows fire departments to establish a subscription fee for their service areas. This fee, payable once a year, is usually $25.00 for residences, and $50.00 for businesses. The only hang-up is that the fee is not a mandatory one, like the property tax that is also widely ignored in this county, so that most departments that have instituted this fee still find themselves short of funds.
The need for fire protection, alas, is lost on most people unless it is their home that is burning; ergo the fire services are often neglected. Of course, the fee system mentioned above is an absolute bargain if the return is viable fire protection, yet many find even this pittance too much to pay, but there is a way to help fund these departments to the fullest extent possible.
Instead of the afore-mentioned subscription fee, if some well-meaning legislator from our area would propose a bill that would set a fee of $2.50 per month ($5.00 for businesses) to be added to electric bills, and then passed on to the area fire departments, no local department would have to depend on the odd federal grant to keep its financial house in order. Plus there would be the added incentive for area residents to attend each fire department’s monthly meetings to see how their contribution is used
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