In the 50 years that Clark County has had a fire department, its firefighters have always been paid. Unlike some fire departments that rely either partially or completely on volunteers, Clark County has always maintained a professional staff.
But now the department is having to defend itself against charges that it's become a financial albatross to Clark County.
The Blue Ribbon Committee, appointed in May to investigate county finances, has indicated it wants to study the idea of a volunteer fire department for Clark County as a money-saving measure, although the committee stopped short of endorsing one during a meeting Friday morning.
"You can't put a price on human life, but at some point you have to draw the line," said Seventh District Magistrate John Henry Ramsey, a committee member.
The committee, which will make recommendations to the fiscal court for making county government more efficient, made clear it thinks the county cannot afford to continue the type of fire protection that currently exists.
As evidence, the committee pointed out that the county spends an average of $2,500 per fire run - whether or not a fire exists - based on 400 calls per year.
Unscheduled overtime added up to more than $150,000 last year, in addition to 832 hours of scheduled overtime for each firefighter.
According to county records, the cost for a county firefighter, including salary and benefits, is $30,901.12.
The committee will look at three alternatives to the current funding mechanism for county fire protection. The first, and undoubtedly most controversial plan, would be switching to a volunteer fire department, something one committee member admitted would constitute a "major upheaval" in Clark County.
Clark County Fire Chief Maynard McGever blasted the idea.
"If they put a volunteer fire department in this community, they're going to face disastrous situations," he said
McGever said a volunteer fire department would increase response time and result in higher property insurance rates for homeowners. He disagreed with a comment made by committee chairman John Hendricks that a volunteer fire department would not affect insurance rates.
"It's a slap in the face to this community to try to come up with an all-volunteer fire department when you've got a bunch of professionals down here doing the best that they can with the money that's given to them," McGever said.
Hendricks acknowledged Clark County would have to be sold on the idea of a volunteer fire department.
"I would think you would have to be able to point out to the community that safety and protection of property is as good with a volunteer as with a paid fire department. I think you could probably mesh the two. Part of your staff is paid and part of your staff is volunteer," he said.
Two committee members, Clare Sipple and Randy Todd, agreed to travel later this month to other counties that have volunteer fire departments to learn more about them.
Sipple and Todd also will investigate other ideas to overhaul the Clark County Fire Department, specifically, fire tax districts and merging the city and county fire departments.
