Central Sabine Fire Chief Scott Gowen has announced that the board passed a measure to allow two part-time positions in the district, which will fill a much-needed hole in fire protection.
The two positions will be ten hours per day, Monday through Friday when most volunteers are working.
“We want to make sure that all calls go answered,” Gowen said. “We treat alarms and fires the same, so not answering an alarm is as serious as not answering a fire.
He points to historically low numbers of volunteers, which is affecting volunteer fire departments as a whole across the board.
To pay the employees, money will be moved from their equipment testing fund.
“The two new employees will be testing hoses and equipment at the station but will be immediately available to answer any calls that come in,” Gowen said.
Those who are staffing the stations will be existing firefighters, who may work offshore or be retired.
Gowen states that this is an unprecedented move for the parish, but a necessary one.
The equipment the part time employees will service is also important, as some of their safety equipment is going on 30 years old and failing.
Just a breathing apparatus can be $6,600 for one truck. A full update would run at around $633,000. Shreveport donated 48 of he units to the department, but they’re 20 years old and also on their way out of service. A truck itself can be $300,000.
“This is a critical point,” Gowen says. “Public safety is our number one priority, and we want to make sure lives and property are protected.”