FREDERICKTOWN — Because of an increased need for space for fire training, personnel workspace, and storage of equipment and paper work, the Fredericktown Community Fire District a meeting room at the back of the Fredericktown fire station will no longer be open to the public. FCFD board president Ken Lybarger said any standing reservations which are already scheduled will be honored through the end of 2008. However, no new reservations will be allowed.
The board made the decision at its last meeting. Acknowledging that some groups are not happy about having to find a new location that might cost more money to rent than the fire department’s room, Lybarger offered an apology.
“We apologize if it is an inconvenience to the public, but there are other meeting rooms available in town,” Lybarger said.
Previously, groups could use the meeting room and have access to the kitchen, in exchange for a donation. Groups which did not make the requested donation in exchange for the use of the room, and who are now unhappy they may now have to rent space elsewhere, don’t have a valid complaint, according to the fire board. The amount donated was left to the discretion of each group using the space; when some did not pay anything for using the room, it ultimately cost the taxpayers money, explained Lybarger.
“If you were using the room on a free basis, that was not the way it was intended,” Lybarger said.
Fire Chief Scott Mast made the change request to the fire board, and said he believes it is in the community’s best interest to have a well-trained, well-prepared department. The meeting room is often used for the training of personnel, fire department meetings and meals.
“My personnel put their life on the line day in and day out on a volunteer basis, and it’s my responsibility to provide them with adequate training,” Mast said. “My personal goal is to far exceed the minimum standards and provide a superior level of skills that ensure the safety and well-being of the community we serve.”
The chief said his personnel also use the room for meals after training exercises and emergencies.
“If we come back from a fire and we need a warm meal, we need a place to do that,” Mast said. “I’m trying to maintain the strength of the volunteer system, which I believe is at its best.”
Because of a lack of volunteer coverage, other fire departments in the county have had to turn to a part-paid system, paying firefighters to remain on duty at the fire station. Fredericktown’s department still is an all-volunteer one, which, Mast said, means a lower tax cost to the community. Money that is raised through tax levies is used to purchase and maintain equipment instead of paying employees.
Part of maintaining an all-volunteer department, Mast said, is providing the firefighters with the space they need to accommodate their professional and personal needs.
“I wish our building was blessed with ample room to provide for such things as a workout area to help maintain and increase the physical fitness of our personnel,” Mast said. “Unfortunately, we do not have the building space for that purpose, so our members find it necessary to travel out of our fire protection area to do their workouts for a job which is physically demanding.”
Lybarger said the fire board is given the responsibility of looking out for the best interest of the fire department personnel, and giving them the resources they need to do an effective job.
“From a fire board standpoint, the fire board is there to make sure that the firemen have what they need,” he said. “The firemen want to come in and relax, and train. It is considered a firehouse, not a community room.”
Mast and Lybarger both said liability issues were a major consideration in the decision as well.
“It’s a major liability issue when you have small children running around, and you’ve got 25 vehicles that come screaming in for an emergency,” Lybarger said.
Mast added that when groups using the room allowed children to run around outside, blind spots in the parking lot at the corner of the building presented a major safety issue.
“With kids running around outside with that blind corner, someone could hit a kid,” Mast said.
The chief added that fire department personnel enjoy having children at the fire house for fire department events and open houses, but that during other times, unattended children could be in real danger around the equipment and vehicles.
Lybarger said the cost of utilities and the cleaning of the room falls on fire department personnel, and ultimately the taxpayers, when groups have not made donations to cover the cost of using the space, including the kitchen.
“People weren’t picking up after themselves or cleaning, and we had to pay people to come in and clean,” he said.
Older members of the community who recall the fire department’s request for the levy to build the fire station 20-plus years ago, say they were told at the time a meeting room would be available to the public. Mast said he understands these people may take issue with having that meeting room made unavailable, but his job is to make decisions that are in the best interest of the department, and the community.
The chief said the change may be hard for some groups who will now have to find and rent another meeting space, but said the senior citizens’ building, library, recreation district and other places all provide space for meetings.
Providing workspace for the assistant chief, and storage for the increased paperwork now required by the state were also needs the chief said factored into the decision. He hopes the groups offended by the change will understand the reasoning in time.
“As in the growth, development and evolution of any successful organization, there are occasionally growing pains that take place,” Mast said.
He said providing the highest level of protection to the district is his goal, and the changes that are being made regarding the level of training the personnel receive is a means toward that end.
“The fire department today is not the fire department of five years ago,” he said. “We appreciate the support our community has always shown us in the past. This is just a personal decision that I believe is in the best interest of the entire community that will enable us to continue to strengthen our department.”