The old spreader and cutter tools were operated with a gas-driven hydraulic pump and took up to 20 minutes to get to an entrapped person. The new rescue tool is battery-operated and will reduce the time by more than half, fire officials said.

"This tool will really help cut through newer model vehicles that are made with tougher material," Capt. Jon Kramer said. "Paramedics will be able to gain fast access to the patient."

Kramer said firefighters will no longer have to carry rescue equipment weighing about 70 pounds over their heads while in full gear.

A formal ceremony celebrating the new life-saving device is planned for Wednesday, Jan. 25, when representatives of Firehouse Subs restaurant (which helped with the purchase), fire district commissioners and firefighters will be on hand. The firefighters will get a special training on how use and maintain their new tool, which costs about $18,700.

"Our goal is to get to that person and give them a better chance of living," Birch said.

"It's that time of year; we start on budgets now," Fire Chief George Corley said, referring to the fiscal year that runs from July 1 to June 30. "The defeat of Measure B is going to have an effect. One of the things we keep doing is punching back some of the things we're going to buy."

A significant parcel tax measure--Measure B may have been overshadowed by the ruckus of the November 2016 election. Had it passed, it would have increased funding for the fire department,

An impartial analysis of Measure B, prepared by San Bernardino County counsel, stated that the last assessment and collection of an annual availability charge for fire suppression service was in March 1980. That fee of $65 per year on each improved parcel of property brings in approximately $200,000, or 10 percent of the department's operating expenses.

The fee has not been increased during the past 36 years. If the amount had been adjusted for inflation, the charge today would be $163 per parcel per year.

Under Measure B, the proposed increase to $146 per year, with no automatic annual increases, would have generated an additional $250,000. That amount would have helped to fund operations, services, equipment needs and continued local control.

One of Corley's objectives is to keep the Running Springs Fire Department independent. "If the county wanted to, it could take over. We're hoping they don't. But if they did, the county would move that assessment and the people would end up paying for it," Corley predicted. He cited as examples the fire departments in both Twentynine Palms and Upland, where the county now charges property owners $148 per year with an annual inflationary fee not to exceed three percent.

"The county doesn't provide the hands-on everyday service that my people provide," Corley emphasized. Adding to the staff's level of commitment is the fact that staff members are long-time local residents.

However, that can make some decisions particularly difficult. While working on the new budget, Corley keeps in mind "The one thing you want to do is start budgeting before you're in dire straights. Otherwise, you have to come up with an emergency plan, like laying people off."

The defeat of Measure B could result in such adverse consequences. As to why the measure didn't pass: "Some people are just tired of tax-raising," Corley surmised. "They think we make too much, or that we have big pensions."

But as the fire department's Facebook page pointed out emphatically during the campaign, "This money would go to the department for things like equipment replacement and station maintenance/repairs, and current staffing levels, not to salary increases."

Another misconception is important to clarify: The Fire Prevention Fee imposed by Cal Fire does not provide funding for the Running Springs Fire Department. Revenue from that fee is kept and used by the state of California.