The Fredericktown Community Fire District will ask voters this November 6, to approve and support the renewal to an existing 1-mil levy fire protection levy for a period of five years. The levy would commence in 2019, be due in 2020 and generate $147,000 per year according to fire district clerk Sandy Casto.
This levy directly funds the operations of the FCFD on a yearly basis, and we want to put an emphasis that this is a renewal, not new taxes being assessed. Roughly 18-years ago was the last time that the district went to taxpayers with any changes, and the reasoning of it was the Village of Chesterville dropping from the coverage area of the FCFD.
“Our primary source of funding the fire district comes directly from the levies that we operate off of,” said FCFD Chief Scott Mast. “Those levies determine what resources we can purchase and what services we can offer our community, these are very key to our operation here.”
In addition to the levy funding, yearly the department seeks grant opportunities at the Local, State, and Federal levels that allows them to fund equipment purchases and pay for the cost of training. Over the course of the last 13 years, the FCFD has been awarded at least one, sometimes as many as three grants a year to handle the costs of projects that further the mission of the district. Major upgrades to hydraulic rescue tools, lifting bags, stabilization struts, radio equipment, laptops, training props, SCBA equipment, protective gear, and hand tools are just some of the physical items that grants have made possible.
Those grant funds, careful management, and relationships have been an integral part of expanding services that further the fire district mission. The construction of a second station several years ago made significant changes to reducing response times. Investments in our dive team led us to being one of only two in Knox County that has the training, personnel, and equipment. We have made significant upgrades in recent years to our firehouse to reduce costs and keep it functional for years to come. More recently we were able to initiate daytime staffing to improve our response times, level of service, safety, and accomplish more of our mission.
“We have had great relationships between Chiefs and the board members over the years and both of those parties have been very fiscally responsible with the expenditure of money. They have been very frugal in what they attempted to do over the years while still increasing the level of services,” said FCFD Chief Mast.
Beyond the income, it is the hard work of many hands that oversee the use of funding and ensuring that the mission of the fire district is met. Over the course of the 10-15 years, the FCFD has underwent so many positive changes to improve the level of service we provide to our citizens. That hard work doesn’t just exist at a table or with a handful of people, but rather a collaborative effort of many.
Careful expenditures combined with solid planning from the Chief down has been a key over the course of time. Within the FCFD we have firefighters with a wide variety of background and expertise that come to the table when we look at purchases and improvements.
“I personally look out in the grand scheme about 10 years as a big overall picture, then try to reel that back to around a 5-year projection on where we might be headed,” said FCFD Chief Mast. “At that point with the officer core here, we bring that to a 2-3 year forecasting frame as far as our next steps.”
Ultimately, beyond all the accomplishments that the fire district has attained over the years, it is the community support that drives our mission. Our citizens, those we serve have graciously supported and trusted us at the voting booth and beyond. That community support is something the firefighters don’t take lightly. Although a volunteer department, they hold professionalism and customer service as a key part of their operation.
“We try to be very diligent in regards being seen in the public and interacting with the public while providing a very professional service to them,” said Chief Mast.
Firefighters for the district recognize that regardless of the situation, when people make contact with us, that we need to be the problem solvers and often fill gaps from other services. Things such as clearing roadways from storms, pumping basements from flooding, providing answers and someone to point them in the right direction for answers. One of the most significant accomplishments by the firefighters has been the operation of a stand-alone toy drive which has operated for over a decade to help those in the Fredericktown community. Through partnerships in the area, each year the firefighters make sure that Christmas happens for hundreds of children.
The FCFD combination fire department utilizing daytime staffing Monday-Friday along with a dedicated group of volunteers to accomplish our mission. We protect the residents of 118-square miles of northwest Knox County and those that pass through on a daily basis. We operate two stations with 28 current members with over 50% of our members being certified at the 240-hour professional firefighter level. Our department fleet consists of two engines, a rescue, tanker, two grass trucks, dive rescue boat, technical rescue trailer, fire ATV, and a chief’s vehicle.
