Santa
comes early to Paradise fire department
By Brooke Nelson
December 16, 2004 | PARADISE -- Troy
Fredrickson, chief of the town's volunteer fire department,
will finally be able to pay the bills thanks to the
nearly $14,000 the Town Council recently allocated to
its emergency services.
"The money the town has allocated will pay for a lot
of basic necessities," Fredrickson said.
Fredrickson said the fire department has had to rely
heavily on fundraisers in the past just to meet its
basic needs, with previous funding from the town not
even coming close to covering expenses.
"Basically it was a joke," said EMT coordinator Peggy
Nath, of her former $500 per year budget. "You can't
even train an EMT for $500. We relied heavily on our
fundraisers."
With money in place to provide the close to two dozen
member team with proper training and gear, Fredrickson
said the fundraisers will now be used to raise money
for "big ticket" items.
"We're looking to buy a cascade system," Fredrickson
said. The new system will be used to refill air tanks
used by the firefighters and costs thousands of dollars,
he said.
Nath said she hopes to use her share of the money
to continue to bring training out to medical workers
in Paradise. Due to the large number of agricultural
workers in the area, Nath said, in the past special
training sessions have included workshops on extraction
from farm equipment.
"The town has been very supportive. They always turn
out for anything we sponsor," she said. "It was nice
to get the support from the town council as well."
Nath said the proposal for more funding was made to
the council this summer after research into the budgets
of similar departments in surrounding towns and cities
had been conducted.
"It was very eye opening," she said. "We were struggling,
scraping the barrel, and still just breaking even."
Fredrickson said the majority of the council members
were very cooperative and readily understood the need
for a change in funding.
"They've been really good to work with," he said.
Nath said the EMTs respond to an average of 30 calls
per year and their area of response goes as far beyond
Paradise as US 89 and the Davis County line. "We cover
a very large area," she said.
The number of calls they receive may also go up as
the county makes changes to roads that will bring increased
traffic into Paradise.
"The more big trucks you get through here, the more
bad accidents there are going to be," she said.
"We're one of those necessary evils," Fredrickson
said of the fire department. While the services the
fire department may not be needed everyday, they are
crucial when an emergency arises, he said. "We are one
of the most important [services] in my eyes."
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