Spanish Fork officially goes from volunteer-based fire crew to full time
Courtesy: Spanish Fork Fire and EMS
A photo shows training exercises being conducted with Spanish Fork Fire and EMS crews.Spanish Fork fire emergency medical services are celebrating a big milestone. The city now officially has full-time crews for both its fire and its ambulance services.
The transition took effect on Aug. 4.
Since 1908, when Spanish Fork Fire & EMS was founded, firefighters have worked on a volunteer basis, being paid a stipend per call, with one full-timer and one part-timer employed for the ambulance crew.
Eddie Hales, Spanish Fork Fire & EMS chief, said the transition and an accompanying staff expansion come as the city continues to grow in population.
“And with that growth comes more traffic and impedance on our volunteer staff that we had being able to get to the station quickly in a manner that we felt that was impeding on our service delivery model,” Hales said.
Many of their volunteers have full-time work obligations outside of Spanish Fork, according to Hales.
Courtesy: Spanish Fork Fire and EMS
A photo shows training exercises being conducted with Spanish Fork Fire and EMS crews.
Through a combination of brand-new hires and internal candidates, he said 17 full-time crew members were brought on to cover roles for fire and EMS.
“Not only did we staff a full-time engine with three personnel on it, 24/7, 365, we were also able to staff another full-time ambulance crew out of our Station 62 with full-time folks instead of part-time,” Hales told the Daily Herald.
City leaders say it’s a big step forward in meeting the ongoing needs of the community.
“We’re grateful for our residents’ support of this long-awaited change,” Spanish Fork Mayor Mike Mendenhall said in statement emailed to the Daily Herald.
Last year, the Spanish Fork City Council approved a budget increase to hire full-time staff for fire & EMS.
This will help reduce overall response times by about 7 to 8 minutes, ultimately protecting lives and property, according to Hales.
“Out the shoot and travel time to get that first apparatus on scene, to start doing either rescue or firefighting to save life and to reduce property damage by getting water on the fire faster than we have in the past,” Hales said.
He noted that volunteerism is a core value in Spanish Fork. Hales praised the efforts of 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 and the impact they’ve had on our community and them laying the foundation for us to be able to build upon and now deliver this more efficient and higher level of service to our community” Hales said.
