As of Saturday, Smiths Station (AL) Fire & Rescue (SSFR) ixnayed indefinitely its ambulance service, the company says in a press release:

Effective February 5, 2022 SSFR will suspend ambulance transport operations indefinitely.

This reduction in services is the direct result of a severe staffing and funding shortage that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are extremely disappointed that it has become necessary to suspend our emergency transport capabilities, we started our ambulance service to fill a need and save lives and we have saved many lives. However, unfortunately without additional funding and staff we are unable to continue operations at this time. It is our sincere hope to restart as soon as possible,” said Joe Walden, SSFR Fire Chief.

“Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a nationwide shortage of Paramedics and EMTs. As with every industry the staffing problems have only gotten worse since the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we have struggled to find enough personnel to staff our ambulance on a 24/7 basis for a number of months,” remarked Daniel Sexton, SSFR Deputy Chief. “Another major issue for us has been funding. In addition to skyrocketing inflation affecting fuel, maintenance, and the medical supplies that are needed and required to operate an ambulance, we have been unable to offer basic employment benefits to our Paramedics and EMTs such insurance, retirement, and competitive salaries. This lack of basic benefits and below average salaries along with the fact that private ambulance agencies neighboring counties are offering as much as $10,000 signing bonuses has made it tough retain and/or attract new employees from the finite number of EMTs and Paramedics that are available in our area.”

While the federal government has sent billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds to Hospitals, Cities, Counties, and States very little of this money has filtered down to Fire & EMS. SSFR Board Chairman Felton Atkinson said, “It’s very frustrating to watch the news or read the newspaper and see how literally millions of dollars are being allocated by the government to all kinds of projects that are not directly COVID-related, while front line first responders -the ones answering 911 calls- are struggling to survive financially.”

SSFR is working closely with ETS (the other ambulance service in Lee County) to minimize the impact this reduction in ambulance transport service will cause. SSFR will also continue to hold an ALS non-transport license in order to offer as much lifesaving services to citizens as possible.

Make no mistake this reduction in emergency ambulance transport service is a devastating blow to our community and all involved. We have witnessed first-hand how the quick response from our ambulance has not only improved the outcome of patients with a medical emergency, but we have seen lives saved by our ambulance. Everyone at SSFR wants to help people, we want to save lives and protect property, but we must have resources to do so.

Smiths Station Fire & Rescue hopes to develop and submit a plan to the Lee County Commission very soon that will help achieve the additional funding that is needed. We encourage concerned citizens to contact their elected officials and ask them to support our community and to help bring back ambulance transport service, expand our fire protection and rescue service

Normal (IL) town officials recently approved borrowing $2.5 million from Bloomington-based Busey Bank to help finance a new fire station, reports centralillinoisproud.com.

They say that by taking a loan, as opposed to paying in cash, the funds can be used for other projects.

The future Station 2 will replace the current College Avenue facility, which was built in the 1980s and is not ADA compliant, the report says, and has a total cost of $4.9 million, which is budgeted for in the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

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The farther-east location of the new station at Hershey and Shepard Road will help cut response times in half to around four minutes, officials say.

Council notes that the loan will be paid off in nine payments of $267,986.80, with the final payment due in 2031.

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Feb. 7, 2022) – Fort Drum firefighters at Station 3 took ownership of a new fire engine that will increase their capabilities and the overall safety of Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield (WSAAF).

The 2021 Pierce Saber fire engine has a 600-gallon water tank, a 1,500-gallon-per-minute pump and six-person cab. Fort Drum Fire Chief Jason Brunet said that Engine 3 will be a critical apparatus for firefighters responding to structural fires in the WSAAF footprint, which includes the airfield, barracks, hangars and other facilities.

“This engine is the missing piece of the puzzle for us,” Brunet said. “It fills a huge void. We were running multiple apparatus on calls that we won’t have to do anymore. Now, all the firefighters can operate out of one piece of equipment.”

Since the fire engine arrived Jan. 31, the crew has washed the engine several times. At first, it was just to remove the film of oil that covered it during transport. After that, it was just a matter of pride.

“It’s always a morale-booster when we get new equipment,” said Fire Lt. Jeremy Bourquin. “It makes you feel more capable of doing your job, and you don’t have the worry of doing more with less. Honestly, we’ve been down an engine for so long and this really brings us back to standard.”

He said that they were able to make due with another apparatus in the interim, but it did not have quite the same capabilities as a standard fire engine. When the new engine was delivered on Jan. 31, it was a welcomed sight for the entire Fort Drum Fire and Emergency Services team.

“All three fire stations are now equipped with newer engines, and we still have a spare in case one goes down or in maintenance,” Bourquin said.

The last new fire engine was delivered to Fire Station 2 in March 2021.

Brunet said that he couldn’t be more appreciative of the efforts from the garrison command team in securing the new fire engine.

“We are incredibly grateful for their support,” he said. “This absolutely gets us where we need to be to operate efficiently right now.”

Residents and first responders in northwest Dallas (TX) want answers as to why Station 30 has remained closed since before the pandemic started, reports Fox4news.com.

The facility was shuttered in November 2019—which has impacted response times in the area—after foundation issues were deemed to be a safety issue, the report says.

Now, the inside has been vandalized, drug paraphernalia was found inside, and the outside is littered with trash and debris.