During the Helper City Council meeting that was hosted on March 7, the council was visited by Helper Fire Chief Matt Montoya and Assistant Chief Zach Wise as they proposed the Fire Department Reserve Program.
Montoya began by saying that, as the council was aware, the department has had a hard time finding and keeping people. In the past, there has been members from other departments that have helped when needed and this spurred the recognition of a need for a reserve program. Wise shared that they were approached a couple of years ago from other departments who said they were willing to help.
There were also former members that could not make a full time commitment but still wanted to assist in the ways they were able. This program is something that has been in discussion at the fire department for the past two years and the basic purpose is to help daytime coverage.
Wise stated that there is a local and national crisis with emergency services, especially in the volunteer world. The Helper department is fortunate enough to currently have 14 members, but there has not been a full roster in some time and there were times that they were down to 10, making things very tight.
There are four individuals at this time that are going through training and one that is finishing an EMT program. The Helper City Fire Department is the only department in Carbon County that responds as a licensed EMS agency and those requirements must be met. Wise and Montoya had brought and presented to the council an initial policy for their perusal.
Helper Mayor Lenise Peterman questioned if they envisioned that a small stipend would be received through this program, to which Wise responded that the stipend would be restricted based on call volume with a minimum of five calls a month. The desire was to compensate those involved in some way. One stipulation was that the members would not have to live inside Helper, but would have to be a resident of Carbon County.
Wise also said they wanted to ensure that the members were either conducting business inside Helper or frequenting it in some way. They do not expect that someone from East Carbon would wear a Helper pager and respond often. Also, those that were involved in the program would be limited and it is not expected for them to go into structure fires. These members would take care of medical calls.
“We have a very large area and we need help with that,” stated Wise, before Mayor Peterman expressed her love for the program and congratulated Wise on this much-needed idea.
Chief Montoya and Wise encouraged the council members to come to their trainings and meetings to see what it is they do. There are certifications required to be part of this program and those interested would need to fill out an application through the fire department. The council approved the Fire Department Reserve Program and praised the duo for their problem solving.