Due to the economic growth in the Pace community, the fire chief of the Pace Fire / Rescue District believes it is time for his fire department to be separated from the Santa Rosa County Municipal Services Benefit Unit, which consists of ten Santa Rosa County fire departments.
“Last year, Pace was rated number two in the state for growth and it’s still growing,” Wadkins said.
Wadkins is concerned about the number of trained firefighters the department will have available during any given shift.
The department has five firefighters working at any given shift, Wadkins said. Next year, the number will be decreased due to the department’s budget.
Next year, Wadkins said he will have no other choice to lay off six firefighters, which were funded through a FEMA grant.
“That means that I will only have three (firefighters) running calls,” he said.
A lack of manpower could also be problematic due to continued growth in Pace.
“Every time they build a new subdivision that is a new percentage of calls we have to go to. Every time there is new business that is new percentage we have to go to,” Wadkins said. With a population growth also comes an increase in overlapping emergency calls, or dispatch calls which occur at the same time or within minutes of each other.
Between January and March of this year, the district had 205 overlapping calls out of a total of 739.
In being part of the MSBU, the Pace Fire District shares funding with fire departments in Harold, Bagdad, Berrydale, East Milton, Munson, Skyline, Allentown and Jay. In seven years, Wadkins said the MSBU has not seen any increases in funding.
“If we can’t get anymore increases then the only way I can keep the money that we generate is by having our own special fire district,” he said.
In addition to seeking support from the county commissioners, Wadkins is also seeking the support from the public and wants to have the community vote upon whether or not the department should become a specialized department. Should the department separated from the MSBU, Pace residents, businesses and organizations would have to pay a fire tax to benefit the district.
Should the department become a fire district, residents would vote on fire commissioners during election cycles, Wadkins said. The district currently has five fire commissioners on their board, which were elected through the department.
Wadkins hopes and one day believes his department will become a fire district.
“We want the public to be on our side with this,” Wadkins said. “We as a group have to come up with a way in order to run these calls and do our jobs.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pace Fire District: Chief seeks separation from MSBU