For the Ripon Consolidated Fire District, it's quite simple: Their district is understaffed, and one of their buildings is empty daily because they need money. The district also needs a new fire truck. In the meantime, they are trying to find ways to respond to 911 calls quickly.
With just two firemen on duty, they can't enter a structure fire legally before waiting for other fire departments to help.
"Everybody that we talk to, they all agree that it is a problem," Chief Erid DeHart said. "They are not happy with the fact that we are starting to run more calls than we can handle. We're seeing on a pretty regular basis, two and three and sometimes four calls that come in a short amount of time, and it inundates the available resources that we have."
"We're basically living on 1985 wages. That's when the last tax was passed, and if you think about it today, if you think about it in your own household, what did items cost in 1985, and what do things cost now?" DeHart said. "So if you were trying to buy items now off of your 1985 wages, there's no way you can do it. The cost of living has gone up easily over 300% from 1985 until now. So we're just asking the voters to consider that and weigh all those facts out as they decide where they are in this matter."
"I totally understand that," he said. "But, for a fire district, this is the only way we can raise funds. There's no other means that's within our power that we can generate revenue."
"Our job is to respond to emergencies," DeHart said. "Our job is to save lives and protect property, and it's very frustrating when multiple calls are coming in at the same time and we can't handle those calls. It's frustrating to listen and hear on the radio that an ambulance coming from another community is delayed, knowing that you have a citizen here within our community that is truly needing medical assistance and it just can't get there fast enough."
"But, if there would've been another call at the same time, either that other call would have had to wait or my son-in-law would have had to wait," Loftis said. "And if my son-in-law would have had to wait, he wouldn't be here today. It's personal to me, at this point. Before, it was interest, it was concern for my community. Now, it's personal."
DeHart hopes to have something on the ballot next year as they await advice from the consultant on how to best move forward to receive funding.
Loftis appreciates the firefighters for the work they do and would like to see them paid better because they've seen a lot of good ones leave for more money and less stress. In the meantime, DeHart said they are "blessed" to have the firefighters on staff.
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