I.V. Fire District eyeing grant for 24-hour shifts
Around-the-clock staffing at some stations of Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) in Cave Junction could be achieved with three salaried squads of two firefighters each.
With that in mind, IVFD directors voted 4-0 in favor of seeking a federal grant of approximately $1.4 million. The program, under Homeland Security, has a four-year format with partial funding; with the participating agency picking up the whole tab for the fifth year.
During the first of four years under the program, the federal money would pay for 90, 80, 50 and 30 percent of the personnel costs. IVFD would have to come up with the balance for each of the four years, plus what would be needed for the fifth year.
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The board also OK’d 4-0 the possibility of placing a levy on the Nov. 6 ballot to fund IVFD’s financial portions. Directors voted during their meeting at administrative headquarters on Thursday night, Aug. 9. Director Jerry Lamb was absent due to a family emergency.
Deputy Chief Jeff Gavlik made the presentation on both matters.
“This is needed for our responses to emergencies,” said Chief Harry Rich.
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“We should go for it,” said Director Sam Michel. Noted board Chairman Larrick Jones, “It’s coming to where we have to do this.”
Directors Dusty Bouchard and Edwin “Bob” Butler added their support. They, Gavlik and Rich cited the fact that with annexations, IVFD’s coverage area is growing, and that the population also is increasing due to new residential developments.
The board also noted that with full-time firefighters, the fire insurance rating for the district could improve. This likely would result in lower rates for home owners.
Gavlik said that with annexations adding to the coverage area, the district is slowly falling behind in terms of financial resources. New equipment would not be included in the federal grant, but it was indicated that other grants could be sought.
Rich stated that he has “an excellent staff who are outstanding grant writers.”
Gavlik said that he’s still developing the grant proposal. The staffing and monetary figures he presented are tentative, and final numbers will be brought to the board later.
After the meeting he said that the preliminary thinking involves the three crews on 24-hour shifts. Whether they would be assigned to Cave Junction Station 1 and Selma Station 2, or some variation, is still under study.
