Courtesy: Spanish Fork Fire and EMS
A photo shows training exercises with Spanish Fork fire and rescue teams.
The Spanish Fork Fire Department is celebrating a major milestone. The city now officially has full-time crews for both fire and EMS.
The transition came into effect on August 4.
Since Spanish Fork Fire & EMS was founded in 1908, firefighters have been volunteers and paid per call. The rescue team consists of one full-time and one part-time employee.
Eddie Hales, chief of Spanish Fork Fire and Emergency Services, said the transition and associated increase in staffing came in light of the city’s continued population growth.
“And with that growth comes more traffic and more disruption for our volunteers because we weren’t able to get to the station quickly, which we felt was hindering our service model,” Hales said.
Many of her volunteers have full-time work commitments outside of Spanish Fork, according to Hales.
Courtesy: Spanish Fork Fire and EMS
A photo shows training exercises with Spanish Fork fire and rescue teams.
He said that through a combination of new hires and internal candidates, 17 full-time crew members have been hired to cover fire and rescue duties.
“Not only have we been able to staff an ambulance with three people 24 hours a day, but we have also been able to staff another full-time ambulance crew at our station 62 with full-time employees instead of part-time employees,” Hales told the Daily Herald.
City leaders believe this is a major step forward in meeting the community’s ongoing needs.
“We are grateful to our citizens for supporting this long-awaited change,” Spanish Fork Mayor Mike Mendenhall said in an emailed statement to the Daily Herald.
Last year, the Spanish Fork City Council approved a budget increase to hire full-time fire and emergency medical personnel.
This will help reduce overall response time by about seven to eight minutes and ultimately protect lives and property, Hales said.
“We save time in searching and getting the first equipment to the scene and starting rescue or firefighting. This allows us to save lives and reduce property damage by extinguishing the fire with water more quickly than before,” said Hales.
He emphasized that volunteerism is a core value in Spanish Fork. Hales praised the efforts of the volunteers, who are now part-time employees, for their hard work and dedication thus far.
“I just want to express my gratitude to our volunteers for the impact they have had on our community. They have laid the foundation for us to now build on this even more efficient and higher quality service for our community,” Hales said.
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