MITCHELL – The Mitchell City Council Monday night voted to pay $2,000 toward a feasibility study to develop a fire territory south of the river.
A fire territory is an agreement between two neighboring townships to partner together to provide fire services.
The cost of the study will be $7,000. The remaining $5,000 will be paid from out of the fire department’s budget.
Reedy Financial Group P.C. from Columbus, Indiana will be hired to perform the feasibility study.
If the fire territory becomes a reality, it will be staffed by firefighters from both the Marion Township Volunteer and Mitchell Volunteer Fire Departments and have an ambulance service. The department and ambulance service would be staffed around the clock and would serve residents south of White River.
Mitchell City Council President Larry Caudell who is also a former Mitchell Volunteer Fire Department chief is not in favor of the new fire territory. But did say he would review the results of the feasibility study before making a final decision.
“This is not to say it will or not happen, but this is a study to find out what a fire territory would look like,” added Caudell.
Marion Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Paul Gillespie says this is the first step in the process.
“We feel it’s time to look at this now because nobody knows what the future looks like,” added Chief Gillespie. “The trend nationwide is there are fewer and fewer volunteers in the local fire departments to answer emergency calls. So much so that some states have declared it a crisis, like Pennsylvania.”
“We’re trying to look at all the options, a fire territory is one of them. It would make sure there are people there to answer emergency calls. Back in the 90s, Lawrence County volunteers were running 100 calls a year or less, now some departments are responding to 800 or 900 calls a year,” Chief Gillespie added.
Fire departments don’t just respond to fires.
“We don’t just go to fires anymore. We’re responding to fires, car accidents, hazardous material incidents, technical rescue and EMS calls, and any other situation somebody can find themselves in,” added Chief Gillespie. “Short of carrying a gun and patrolling the streets the Fire Departments are your one-stop shop for emergency services. “
Two volunteer Fire Departments in Lawrence County have shut their doors since 2017. Guthrie and Williams. Other departments have picked up that coverage for the citizens.
“I don’t think anybody wants to call 911 with an emergency just to find out that nobody is responding to it, or the help is coming from further away,” said Chief Gillespie. “This is one way we make sure the service keeps going to protect the people that live and visit here. Again, this is the first step of many. Having this study done so that we know what we’re looking at, and if it’s even possible. There are too many unknowns right now without the study, too many guesses and what it’s. After the study is done and we have it to look at we’ll know more about how to proceed.”
