In recent weeks, Wake Forest Fire Chief Ron Early, his staff, firefighters and the department’s board of directors have been buoyed by the anticipation Wake County commissioners will approve the recommendations by the fire service cost-share study, meaning Wake Forest Fire Department will receive an additional $158,000 over its regular $713,000 for its operating budget in the next fiscal year, an additional $316,000 the following year and $474,000 the third year and thereafter with adjustments.
Then Tuesday night Early and the directors learned the town commissioners had just voted three to two to end the end-of-the-year true-up (explained in the article about the town board) after this year’s true-up, which should be about $30,000.
The department has not, as the town board seemed to believe, used that true-up money for operations; instead the fire department board decided at the outset that all of the true-up funds went into a capital projects fund.
It was that fund which allowed the department, for the first time, to purchase a new $425,000 engine for Station #3 for cash rather than having to take out a commercial loan with substantial interest. The department is paying $38,800 in interest annually for the two loans which financed Station #3 and the $950,000 ladder truck at Station #1. (Just completed Station #4 on Jenkins Road was totally paid for through the fire impact fees on new construction.)
Wednesday morning Early, speaking for himself as chief, said, “The town has always been good to us, but I am concerned about our finances.” He said the true-up funds are a needed budget item and “We depend on that money.” He noted that the $30,000 from this year’s true-up is close to the salary for an entry-level firefighter, which is $33,000 plus $7,000 in benefits.
The county covers only 22.9 percent of the department’s operating budget with the town paying the rest. Early said that to now the county has never recognized all the department’s stations, covering operations only for Stations #1 and #2, Elm Avenue and Ligon Mill Road, but ignoring Stations #3 and #4, Forestville Road and Jenkins Road. The county does pay all operating costs for Station #5, Falls, but that is a low-cost station because it has only part-time paid personnel with the rest of the roster made up of volunteers.
The draft of the cost-sharing study found that the Wake Forest Fire Department had the lowest county funding as a percentage of total department funding of all the departments in the study.
The growing town, now 40,000 with more people taking up residence every day, will need more stations and more equipment to meet the growing needs. Their calls for everything from a fire to a medical emergency – the department is a fully certified first-responder and often reaches the scene and a patient before EMS – are increasing by 7 and 8 percent each year.
“We’re doing our job, keeping people safe,” Early said, pointing to the two life-saving events – CPR and resuscitation – by the staff at Station #4 in its first six months of operation, the five life-saving events by the overall department in 2015 and the nine in 2014.
By 2020 Early is planning to purchase a second ladder truck and staff it with 12 personnel – four crew members for each of three shifts. The truck will cost about $1 million and a year’s cost for the trained staff is $650,000 including salaries and benefits.
A sixth station is also planned for the east side of town in the next five to seven years with a place-holder construction cost of $5 million.
The town’s contract with the Wake Forest Fire Department for the current year was for $6,926,642, a number inflated by the construction, equipment and operating costs of Station #4. Town Manager Kip Padgett has proposed $4,958,690 for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
This description of the department is taken from the cost-sharing study. “Wake Forest Fire Department Wake Forest Fire Department (WFFD) is an independent not-for-profit fire department that was created in 1983 as a volunteer emergency services provider for the Town of Wake Forest and the surrounding unincorporated areas. The department remains independent and contracts with the town to provide fire protection and other services within the municipal limits.
The department operates from four stations strategically located throughout the service area with a fleet of four engines, one pumper/tanker that is used as a tanker, one aerial apparatus, one rescue apparatus, and four brush/wildland vehicles. Station 1 houses an engine company and aerial company while Stations 2 and 3 house a single engine company each. Station 5 (fourth station) is staffed with part-time personnel from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and volunteers on nights and weekends.
The department’s administrative staff consists of the fire chief and assistant fire chief as well as a part-time assistant chief and deputy chief. Operational staff consists of three assistant chiefs, 12 captains, 12 lieutenants and 24 career firefighters as well as three part-time captains, three part-time lieutenants and four part-time firefighters. In addition, the department maintains a roster of six volunteer battalion chiefs, six volunteer captains, six volunteer lieutenants and 35 volunteer firefighters.
The department has received a fire insurance rating of four in the town and a split rating of 5/9 in the unincorporated areas. It is estimated that nearly 100 percent of the town is served by municipal water and there are approximately three static water points in the unincorporated areas that are actively used. Based on information provided by department and town officials, the growth rate in the area is substantial.
Regarding higher risk occupancies, the department serves a chemical plant as well as up to six nursing homes, nine public schools, a number of private and charter schools and a large number of multi-family housing structures. Based on the level of risk, the fire department provides fire suppression services, basic life support first responder services, hazardous materials response and vehicle extrication services. Technical-level hazardous materials and technical rescue response are received from external agencies.”
