[MARCH 10, 2006]
In the March 21 election, four rural townships
surrounding Lincoln will vote on funding to build a new rural
firehouse. Chester, East Lincoln, West Lincoln and Broadwell are
served by the Lincoln Rural Fire Protection District.
The fire department's service mostly constitutes runs to rural
subdivisions, farms, accidents and fields.
Some Lincoln Rural Fire Department facts and stats:
Automatic immediate
response on all vehicle accidents to assist with auto
extrication with Beason, Hartsburg and Emden. Those communities
have limited extrication equipment. The call may be terminated
before they reach a site if they are not needed.
Extrication, as
requested by the city of Lincoln.
Automatic response
to "anything" in Hartsburg-Emden. Hartsburg is on "all calls"
response at this time. That department has a young crew that
would prefer backup. They had 30 some calls last year.
Automatic mutual
aid on structural fires for all neighbors.
394 calls last
year.
110 extrication
calls; not all calls needed extrication.
79 percent of calls
are rescue-related
Third and fourth
call-out for the Logan County Paramedic Association.
Coverage of two
state highways.
Coverage of two
interstate highways.
Staffing
Lincoln Rural and the city of Lincoln are the only two fire
departments in the county with full-time employees. The department
has six full-time and six part-time firemen. That makes 29
responders. Of that number, 15 are emergency medical technicians.
We rely heavily on our 17 volunteers, Lincoln Rural Fire Chief
Dean Kukuck said. They significantly help keep costs down.
Having paid staff available to head out immediately makes an
important difference, Kukuck said. For example, when Elkhart had a
possible structure fire recently, Lincoln Rural received a MABAS
(mutual aid) call. LRFD beat Elkhart to the scene because Elkhart
volunteers had to drive into the fire station to pick up their truck
first.
Kukuck said that departments the size of Lincoln Rural run on one of
two premises: They choose between having new equipment and relying
on volunteers, or they choose old equipment and paid manpower. The
LRFD is a combination of both. They have strong volunteer support
and some older equipment.
Current equipment conditions and the future
The department's last major referendum was in 1984. A new truck
was purchased. A smaller levy took place in 1993 to buy a rescue
vehicle. The seven-vehicle fleet's most modern vehicle is a 2001
truck. Other vehicles are a 1978 GMC rescue vehicle, a 1993
ambulance and one Air Guard converted water truck. Kukuck said that
the better value is in used vehicles, and they try for those to keep
expenses down.
Building a new facility and maintaining the necessary equipment
is beyond the department's capability. "We watch our budget,"
trustee Lynn Haseley said. "We need taxpayers to help in building
this building, as we are getting to the point that we need to add
some new equipment again."
What will it cost the taxpayer?
Homeowners would see $56 per year or $4.73 per month on a
$100,000 house.
Farm ground is valued differently in different townships. West
Lincoln would be 46 cents per acre, East Lincoln 65 cents per acre,
Broadwell 58 cents per acre and Chester 51 cents per acre.
The referendum is for $1.3 million on a 15-year bond issue.
