By Brandi Watters, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
brandi.watters@heraldbulletin.com
FRANKTON - If things don't change, the town could lose its fire department.
That's the message Frankton Fire Chief Rob Amick intends to deliver to a crowd of residents on Wednesday during a public meeting at the fire station.
With an annual budget of about $62,000, Amick said the fire department is quickly sinking and will eventually have to close its doors if area townships and the town of Frankton will not agree to an increase in its annual contract.
Town officials are sympathetic to the cause of the Frankton firefighters, but say there's simply no extra money in the budget to up the contract.
Frankton is an all-volunteer department with 19 active firefighters who are paid a state-mandated stipend of $200 per year for costs incurred by providing fire protection.
Although each firefighter is entitled to the money, Amick said most of his men sign the money back over the fire department due to the department's budget concerns.
Unlike other area volunteer departments in the county, Frankton is not owned by a township government. Instead, Frankton is a nonprofit entity that contracts its services to neighboring townships and the town of Frankton.
Currently, the department serves the town of Frankton along with Lafayette and Jackson townships.
When the townships are combined with Frankton, the department serves a population of 9,283, Amick said.
The coverage area of the department includes over 70 square miles, the largest in the county.
The department's budget pales in comparison to other area volunteer departments, Amick said.
Chesterfield-Union Township Fire Department serves a population of 10,000 resident and had an annual operating budget of $226,000.
Richland Township Fire Department serves nearly half as many residents with 5,100 in their population, but sees a fire protection budget of $155,000, he said.
Pendleton Fire Chief Danny Gardner said his department serves roughly 10,000 to 15,000 residents with a fire budget of $250,000 per year.
That budget, he said, does not include money allotted for the emergency medical services provided by his ambulance crew.
The $250,000 goes toward the cost of outfitting firefighters, truck payments and building payments.
Pendleton is the busiest department in the county, he said. In 2007, Pendleton's firefighters responded to 395 fire and rescue emergencies.
Frankton does not have an ambulance crew at the fire station, but made 189 fire and rescue runs in 2007.
Richland Township Fire Chief Bryan Frank said his department's budget is twice that of Frankton's, but said Frankton sees more action. "They are a lot busier than we are."
Frank estimates that his fire department makes 80 or so fire and rescue related runs per year.
Frankton Town Council President Lisa Corey admits that Frankton has not given the department an increase in its contract since 2003, but argues that the town of Frankton rarely has structure fires. "Our contract is only for in-town Frankton and a population of 2,000."
The town does pay the dispatching costs for the department, she said, which are raised every year.
Corey does not know how the town determined its $22,000 annual contract with Frankton's fire department. "At some point, there was a figure arrived at. It has just increased over the years."
Since there hasn't been an increase in the $22,000 for six years, Amick believes Frankton should agree to a substantial increase.
By 2012, he wants to see the Frankton Fire Department's budget doubled to $120,000, making it comparable to other area stations.
That would mean an increase to the contracts of Lafayette and Jackson townships, as well.
Karen Lumpkin of Jackson Township said her township paid $12,100 to the Frankton Fire Department in 2008 for fire protection.
The last increase, she said, was in 2006, and was about $1,000 over the previous year.
"I understand their equipment is so expensive and it gets out of date so quickly. They're in a bind," she said.
Although Lumpkin sympathizes with Amick and the volunteer firefighters, she said her township is also in a bind. "I can't pay them till the county pays me and because the property taxes have been such a mess, I don't get the money from the county."
Pendleton is the busiest department in the county, he said. In 2007, Pendleton's firefighters responded to 395 fire and rescue emergencies.
Frankton does not have an ambulance crew at the fire station, but made 189 fire and rescue runs in 2007.
Richland Township Fire Chief Bryan Frank said his department's budget is twice that of Frankton's, but said Frankton sees more action. "They are a lot busier than we are."
Frank estimates that his fire department makes 80 or so fire and rescue related runs per year.
Frankton Town Council President Lisa Corey admits that Frankton has not given the department an increase in its contract since 2003, but argues that the town of Frankton rarely has structure fires. "Our contract is only for in-town Frankton and a population of 2,000."
The town does pay the dispatching costs for the department, she said, which are raised every year.
Corey does not know how the town determined its $22,000 annual contract with Frankton's fire department. "At some point, there was a figure arrived at. It has just increased over the years."
Since there hasn't been an increase in the $22,000 for six years, Amick believes Frankton should agree to a substantial increase.
By 2012, he wants to see the Frankton Fire Department's budget doubled to $120,000, making it comparable to other area stations.
That would mean an increase to the contracts of Lafayette and Jackson townships, as well.
Karen Lumpkin of Jackson Township said her township paid $12,100 to the Frankton Fire Department in 2008 for fire protection.
The last increase, she said, was in 2006, and was about $1,000 over the previous year.
"I understand their equipment is so expensive and it gets out of date so quickly. They're in a bind," she said.
Although Lumpkin sympathizes with Amick and the volunteer firefighters, she said her township is also in a bind. "I can't pay them till the county pays me and because the property taxes have been such a mess, I don't get the money from the county."
The town was even struggling with its budget before tax caps and the recession, she said. "We were hit with cuts continuously from about 2003 and its just keeps getting worse. They made a huge cut to our budget in 2006 when we had to layoff a full-time police officer."
Lafayette Township Trustee Steve Anderson was not available.
Budget concerns aside, Corey believes the $22,000 contract is fair. "Some years there are no actual structure fires - where we don't have any within town limits."
Corey is not concerned about Amick's threat that the fire department may close.
Frankton will have fire protection, she said. "We signed a contract with them to provide us fire protection within the town of Frankton, so if it is at a situation where they cannot provide fire protection, we may have to go with another fire department. We had met with Pipe Creek Fire Department several years ago."
Richland Township Fire Chief Bryan Frank hopes Lafayette Township does not plan to rely on Pipe Creek if Frankton closes its doors.
"I live in Lafayette Township, and Pipe Creek Fire Department ... it would take them 35 to 40 minutes to get to my house on a good day. Frankton Fire Department has a station within two miles of my home," he said.
"Not only as a citizen of Lafayette Township, but also as a fire chief of a neighboring department, that would be a total disservice to Lafayette Township."
Frankton Town Council member Howard Sowers said Frankton Fire Department isn't completely on its own. "The town furnishes a building. We do the maintenance on the building. That's got to be worth some value."
Sours believes the department is having financial trouble because it does not handle its money well. "I think they're overspending a little bit."
Sours did not want to explain specific expenditures that he did not approve of.
"What they've got to realize, we're a volunteer department and it's not a paid department. There's a big difference," he said.
The Frankton Fire Department does charge for fire runs, but Amick does not believe the department can depend on such dollars. "We're surviving on other people's tragedies."
The department is currently owed $15,000 in delinquent bills.
Even with payments from fire runs, Amick said the department is not going to be able to stay afloat with its current budget. "We are running on less than the average household income."
Amick said he's been worried about the department for a long time. In 2005, he put his own home up as collateral for a fire department loan.
The command vehicle he uses is also Amick's property. He leases the vehicle to the fire department for $1 a year so that he can drive it as fire chief.
The most pressing concern for the fire department, he said, is that the air tanks and face masks now used by his firefighters will no longer be federally compliant on Jan. 1, 2010.
The company that makes them, Frank said, has gone out of business, and all fire departments are required to upgrade. Richland Township will complete the upgrade, but Frankton is struggling to find the funds.
Air packs are technically referred to as self-contained breathing apparatuses, or SCBAs, and cost several thousand dollars apiece.
Amick is currently in talks with the Town of Frankton about purchasing the SCBAs for the firefighters.
"We have to have those," Amick said. "There's no getting around it."
If the firefighters do not have the SCBAs, they cannot enter burning homes to search for victims.
Instead, he said, his department would be forced to stand outside, spray water at the house, and hope that a neighboring department with SCBAs shows up in time.
Frank believes there is no question that Frankton and the townships served by the fire department should pay for the new SCBAs. "Basically, he's putting them on notice that the government is putting these mandates on us and if they are unable or unwilling to come up with that money, I think there's some liability that can be extended to the town and townships."
He doesn't believe Amick is asking for too much and will be one of many area fire chiefs who will attend Amick's meeting at the fire station Wednesday, July 15, to discuss the future of the department. "They are asking to be able to do at a minimum level what they need to do to protect the people of the areas that they are contracted to serve ... It's not like he's trying to highway rob them."