January 15, 1977

White River faces fire fund crisis

       Dramatic increases in the number of emergency fire and ambulance runs in the growing White River Township area could cause a financial pinch for the volunteer White River Township Fire Department in the foreseeable future unless funding for the services is comparably increased, according to department officials and the township trustee. Following steady increase in the number of runs since 1970, the department witnessed a dramatic jump of 75 per cent in the number of emergency operations they performed in 1976. The 22-man volunteer force was called out for 193 first aid runs and 156 fires during the 12 months of 1976, an average of one nearly every 24 hours. In 1975, 199 emergency runs were recorded – 113 for first aid and 86 for fires. The average that year was one run every 41 hours. The number has climbed from 151 runs in 1971.
 

Lack of funding

But, while the need for emergency services in the fast-growing township, have increased funding has not. Faced with a total tax levy which is frozen at its 1972 level because of the local option tax law, the department has had to depend on other resources to keep pace with financing needs. White River Township Trustee Maurice Baker and White River Fire Department officials Bob Wehrman, Fire Chief, and Larry Robinson, Chairman of the Board, explained the funding dilemma: “While the costs of equipment, fuel, and maintenance have increased, the funding has not.” The cost for a fire engine alone has jumped from an average of $45,000 to a cost of $60,000. “Everything is growing (in cost),” Robinson pointed out, “insurance, gas, fuel. Our income is not increasing even though our runs are doubling.” The volunteers logged 3,000 miles in 1976. Baker explained that about $9,000 per year, four fourths of the township’s budget, is expended to each of White River’s fire departments through the township budget. The departments have obtained approximately $6,000 in revenue sharing funds obtained through the township. Robinson explained, “If it wasn’t for the good people in the area, we wouldn’t survive.” Donations for the year nearly met the total township intake, with nearly $7,000 in contributions reported, he stated. The department and it’s auxiliary, made up of firefighter’s wives, also holds an annual rummage sale, stocked with donated items, to raise money for necessary expenses. An annual Christmas bingo and a skating party have also been implemented to raise money.
 

More expenditures

Robinson foresees the department’s being forced into gradually facing more expenditures as the population and character of White River Township grows and changes and the department is charged with “providing a different grade of fire protection.” For example, Wehrman citied “With the growth of the area, we will probably be forced into getting an ambulance.” Presently, White River volunteers respond to emergency runs, along with personnel from Myers ambulance service. Different types of equipment could also be needed if future building includes factories or high-rise apartments in the township. Robinson said he doesn’t foresee any future move to make the department a paid volunteer force comparable to the Greenwood department, but he hopes that some system could be worked out whereby the volunteers could be paid “$1 or $2 per run” to meet their gasoline expenses. He pointed out that the men pay for their own gasoline, uniforms, and blue lights and each man purchases a $50 jacket with the department insignia. The department furnishes coats, boots, helmets, gloves, fire extinguishers and a fire radio for the volunteer’s homes. The department also has insurance on the men, but the volunteers must fund their own car insurance. “It’s a shame,” the township trustee said of the inability to compensate the volunteers. “You get these people out of bed at 2:30 a.m. and they use their own time, gas, and automobile. They have to be dedicated.”  (Reprinted with permission of the Daily Journal)

 

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