By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Riverside Fire Authority Chief Mike Kytta notified dispatchers and neighboring fire departments this morning he essentially closed the Harrison Avenue fire station for the day, because he’s short staffed.
One firefighter is on vacation and another called in sick, Kytta said.
Kytta said he doesn’t have money in his budget to pay overtime to bring in someone on their day off.
Three firefighters will be on duty at the Pearl Street station during the 24-hour period that ends tomorrow at 8 a.m., according to Kytta. They will respond to district calls, he said.
The Harrison Avenue station had its usual administrative personnel on duty, during regular business hours.
“It happened once earlier this year,” Kytta said. “Unfortunately we’re down enough staff right now, here it is. Here’s the reality of it.”
The chief expected to have volunteers at the station overnight.
Riverside Fire Authority, which protects a population of 28,000 spanning more than 180 square miles in and around Centralia, is working this year with a budget of $3.9 million, compared to last year’s of $4.6 million.
The primary reason for the reduction is related to the fairly sudden change in taxes contributed by TransAlta’s power plant, as it winds down coal burning operations.
If their predictions about next year’s budget are realized, they will lose another $600,000 in revenue, Kytta said this morning.
The department is scheduled to lay off two more firefighters in July, making a total of six positions lost since the beginning of the year. Today, they have 23 paid firefighters.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Prior to the advent of fire departments being paid out of tax revenue, each person who wished to be protected by fire departments paid an annual fee to receive fire service if one could afford it. Of course the ability to reach that service was not quite what it is today. Think multiple party land line with a switch board; if a person happened to have a telephone which were not all that common.
The problem was when my house caught fire, my neighbors house, the barn, or all surrounding fields burned. Lots of confusion as well as graft over who did or did not pay. Of course once the property was burned to the ground, it was a moot point. Few had anything called “property insurance” then. It became feasible for counties to develop a tax base to cover all homes. That was the only way to protect the entire community. That archaic system still exists in some isolated communities.
WOW. And I thought I was jaded about our Government Agencies, in my opinion there is only one agency standing between life and death or a fire our losses. This is a career that isn’t wanted, I’m talking about being a (volunteer) Fire Fighter, with the FACT that NO ONE wants to give up there personal time to fofill the requirements that are imposed upon our Fire Departments by the State of Washington L&I. So that leaves with only a few options and I’ll lay this out for every one. #1 continue to watch the decline of this valued service to our community and attack our good servants because of the fact that they get a pay check, then your going to see the real costs. When your property values start to decline and the insurance costs start to go up (if you can even get insurance) it will be to late.
#2 the course that we appear to be heading down, tight fiscal management, reductions of force, and hopefully the voters raise the taxing level so our Fire Department can sustain and protect us and our families.
I will tell you this, I would rather pay money out of my pocket to help fund the RFA than pay higher insurance rates to some fat cat insurance company executive who would like to have another house in the Hamptons (NY). The obvious benefit to a good or great Fire Department is the lives and property that they protect. They recently responded to my Parents house and the outcome was great, if the RFA hadn’t responded the results are unthinkable. While your abashing our Career Fire Fighters maybe you should think about them and the Great Volunteers that are here to bring aid to our citizens, protect them against fires and other disasters.
There is an old line, “You can pay for it now or you can Pay for it later” it’s your choice. Think well!
Okay, I’ll bite…how does being a firefighter make one “more progressive?”
Oh MY! I think Chief Mike needs to quit talking to the press. Hoof and mouth disease Mike? SHH!
I’d be happy to volunteer just to hang out with people that are more progressive than my circle. A ladder up? 😉
Well said Ben! Firefighters are well known for scamming the money making machine. Time to boot the Big Chiefs and let a couple of Civil Service Qualified trainng officers lead an all Volunteer Dept with some incentive perks for those interested in volunteering.
Time to fire all the BIG CHIEFS……………Keep 4 qualified Firefighting Training Officers “(Civil Service Qualified) Let them be in charge of an ALL VOLUNTEER Dept. Train them up, let them participate in the “heroism” and let AMR cart off all the downed heifers. This has become a HUGE MONEY DEFICIT JOKE! Time for the dumb fks on the city councils to get their heads out of their butts and quit bilking the citizens for your BS decisions and your free BRONZE medical plans…………….ASSO”S.
Now let me get this straight. The fire station basically closed down due to one firefighter was sick and one was on vacation? Are they saying the fire station cant function with 2 firefighters gone? And how much do they pay the fire chief? And how much did that fancy station cost? I get the feeling this is a setup-to make a public show that they can’t function without more money. but what do I know-at least I am not paying taxes to this fire district.
Sorry…………I don’t have a hard time feeling sorry for them. They were better off before they merged with Centralia. If you do a public information request for how much the paid fire fighters are get paid including overtime and vacation pay you might see how they are wasting our tax dollars. They have been rapping the tax payers for years. Most of the paid fire fighters have other full time jobs because of the very few days required to work each month for full time.