New Central Crossing fire station fully operational
July 24, 2019
Charlea Estes-Jones
Just a little over a year after voters of Barry and Stone Counties favored two property tax levies to benefit Central Crossing Fire Department, the station is now staffed 24 hours a day with firefighters, the building has been remodeled, and new equipment is ready to go to keep the community safe.
Fire chief Rusty Rickard said the response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, and after the proposed levies passed in April 2018, the fire station renovations are complete, the main station is staffed 24 hours a day with two firefighters, new breathing equipment is in, and the department has received the first of three trucks purchased with property tax levy monies.
When Central Crossing Fire put the issue on the ballot for voters in the two counties to decide on, it was split into two different levy increases. The first requested $0.30 per $100 of assessed valuation to fund continued operations in the department. The second was also $0.30 but is dedicated to staff the department 24 hours a day.
Prior to the passage of those two propositions, the department was funded on a single $0.40 cent property tax levy that generated approximately $425,000 a year.
With the new levies in place, the revenue for Central Crossing in the first full year of taxes collected was $1,069,454.
Before, Central Crossing was operating almost exclusively on volunteers. While those volunteers are still an integral part of the department’s community response, having dedicated, paid firefighters means response times will go down and the district the department serves will be safer as a whole.
Prior to the tax levy, the district had three paid positions. The chief’s position was a full time paid position and there were two part-time positions for a maintenance worker and the battalion chief/training officer.
Now, the department has six full-time firefighters who work 24 hours on-48 hours off shifts with two firefighters there at all times, one full time chief, one full time training officer/battalion chief, one full time office manager and two part time maintenance workers.
Firefighters have to meet strict employment and training requirements. Currently, they have to have passed Firefighter I and II classes and be EMTs to receive their full salaries, which includes health insurance, vision, dental and retirement.
While the district’s levies were approved in 2018, money wasn’t received by the Department until January after property taxes were collected for 2018. However, plans were in place, and the department was ready to go out for bids as soon as that money came in. A total of five bids were sent in for the station remodel, and four of those met the bonding requirements laid out by the district’s board. Once a bid was chosen, work began in January 2019 and was almost completed in April 2019.
It was July before firefighters were hired to have the department staffed, due mostly to regulations and changes to actually hire on that additional staff.
The remodel of the fire station cost the district approximately $263,000. In that renovation, the station was converted to house three different private bunks for firefighters, installed a commercial kitchen, upgraded bathrooms to include showering facilities and gave a facelift to the existing interior.
Rickard said, “the building was 18 years old and basically hadn’t been touched since, not even the paint.”
Painting the interior, putting in more maintenance-free vinyl plank floors and upgrading the HVAC all helped to transition from a space that was primarily for training and general business to have dormitory rooms and be able to actually keep staff on site 24 hours a day.
Rickard said, “Even the kitchen here before was basically an apartment kitchen. There was a tiny oven that didn’t even fit a cookie sheet and an electric cooktop.” All of that needed to change to accommodate staffing changes.
He added, “Even with the original floors, we were paying $13,500 per year to strip and wax the floors.”
Other changes included server upgrades for the computer system and security changes that included cameras and access controls for points of entry.
The department also ordered three new trucks, an engine, ladder truck and tanker truck. So far, the district has received the engine. Those trucks were purchased on a lease agreement with payments of $100,000 per year for 10 years.
They also upgraded their breathing air equipment, replaced all hose and nozzles and replaced and upgraded extrication equipment. That equipment was purchased on a five year lease for $50,000 per year.
Next, the department plans to acquire land to build a multi-story training facility to continue to improve its ISO rating. It will be used for training for rappelling, burning, axing and more. Rickard said it will bean all-in-one facility for training.
Overall the department is well on its way to guarantee the improvements laid out in a letter sent out by Rickard to voters prior to the election in April 2018. The following benefits were listed for the two levies:
• Allow operations of your fire department to continue in a progressive direction
• Permit upgrades, replacement, repairs and testing of fleet and equipment
• Improve local communications/paging system after federal mandated changes
• Provide necessary safety gear and protective equipment for members
• Purchase proper extrication and rescue equipment for use on newer vehicles
• Begin replacement of old trucks/apparatus
• Improve training and develop a facility to train volunteers
• Increase call per diem for volunteers
• Department rating (ISO) maintains/improves for insurance savings to the public
• Employ six certified Firefighter/EMT’s for full time coverage and one office/clerical staff
• Two certified Firefighter/EMT’s will be stationed at headquarters every day 24/7
• Staff responsible for maintenance of apparatus, equipment, stations and grounds
• Quicker response time to fire and medical calls
• Volunteers are still very much needed and required
Voters were heavily in favor of both propositions. Barry County voters supported Proposition 1 with 435 yes votes to 141 no votes. Stone County supported the proposition with 212 yes votes to 87 no votes. On Proposition 2, Barry County voters supported it with 367 yes votes against 207 no votes. Stone County supported Proposition 2 with 185 yes votes to the 118 no votes.
Proposition 1 passed with 73.9 percent of the vote. Proposition 2 passed with 62.9 percent of the vote.
Central Crossing Fire Department is based in Shell Knob. They have nine full time employees and approximately 40 volunteers.
Charlea Estes-Jones
Just a little over a year after voters of Barry and Stone Counties favored two property tax levies to benefit Central Crossing Fire Department, the station is now staffed 24 hours a day with firefighters, the building has been remodeled, and new equipment is ready to go to keep the community safe.
Fire chief Rusty Rickard said the response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, and after the proposed levies passed in April 2018, the fire station renovations are complete, the main station is staffed 24 hours a day with two firefighters, new breathing equipment is in, and the department has received the first of three trucks purchased with property tax levy monies.
When Central Crossing Fire put the issue on the ballot for voters in the two counties to decide on, it was split into two different levy increases. The first requested $0.30 per $100 of assessed valuation to fund continued operations in the department. The second was also $0.30 but is dedicated to staff the department 24 hours a day.
Prior to the passage of those two propositions, the department was funded on a single $0.40 cent property tax levy that generated approximately $425,000 a year.
With the new levies in place, the revenue for Central Crossing in the first full year of taxes collected was $1,069,454.
Before, Central Crossing was operating almost exclusively on volunteers. While those volunteers are still an integral part of the department’s community response, having dedicated, paid firefighters means response times will go down and the district the department serves will be safer as a whole.
Prior to the tax levy, the district had three paid positions. The chief’s position was a full time paid position and there were two part-time positions for a maintenance worker and the battalion chief/training officer.
Now, the department has six full-time firefighters who work 24 hours on-48 hours off shifts with two firefighters there at all times, one full time chief, one full time training officer/battalion chief, one full time office manager and two part time maintenance workers.
Firefighters have to meet strict employment and training requirements. Currently, they have to have passed Firefighter I and II classes and be EMTs to receive their full salaries, which includes health insurance, vision, dental and retirement.
While the district’s levies were approved in 2018, money wasn’t received by the Department until January after property taxes were collected for 2018. However, plans were in place, and the department was ready to go out for bids as soon as that money came in. A total of five bids were sent in for the station remodel, and four of those met the bonding requirements laid out by the district’s board. Once a bid was chosen, work began in January 2019 and was almost completed in April 2019.
It was July before firefighters were hired to have the department staffed, due mostly to regulations and changes to actually hire on that additional staff.
The remodel of the fire station cost the district approximately $263,000. In that renovation, the station was converted to house three different private bunks for firefighters, installed a commercial kitchen, upgraded bathrooms to include showering facilities and gave a facelift to the existing interior.
Rickard said, “the building was 18 years old and basically hadn’t been touched since, not even the paint.”
Painting the interior, putting in more maintenance-free vinyl plank floors and upgrading the HVAC all helped to transition from a space that was primarily for training and general business to have dormitory rooms and be able to actually keep staff on site 24 hours a day.
Rickard said, “Even the kitchen here before was basically an apartment kitchen. There was a tiny oven that didn’t even fit a cookie sheet and an electric cooktop.” All of that needed to change to accommodate staffing changes.
He added, “Even with the original floors, we were paying $13,500 per year to strip and wax the floors.”
Other changes included server upgrades for the computer system and security changes that included cameras and access controls for points of entry.
The department also ordered three new trucks, an engine, ladder truck and tanker truck. So far, the district has received the engine. Those trucks were purchased on a lease agreement with payments of $100,000 per year for 10 years.
They also upgraded their breathing air equipment, replaced all hose and nozzles and replaced and upgraded extrication equipment. That equipment was purchased on a five year lease for $50,000 per year.
Next, the department plans to acquire land to build a multi-story training facility to continue to improve its ISO rating. It will be used for training for rappelling, burning, axing and more. Rickard said it will bean all-in-one facility for training.
Overall the department is well on its way to guarantee the improvements laid out in a letter sent out by Rickard to voters prior to the election in April 2018. The following benefits were listed for the two levies:
• Allow operations of your fire department to continue in a progressive direction
• Permit upgrades, replacement, repairs and testing of fleet and equipment
• Improve local communications/paging system after federal mandated changes
• Provide necessary safety gear and protective equipment for members
• Purchase proper extrication and rescue equipment for use on newer vehicles
• Begin replacement of old trucks/apparatus
• Improve training and develop a facility to train volunteers
• Increase call per diem for volunteers
• Department rating (ISO) maintains/improves for insurance savings to the public
• Employ six certified Firefighter/EMT’s for full time coverage and one office/clerical staff
• Two certified Firefighter/EMT’s will be stationed at headquarters every day 24/7
• Staff responsible for maintenance of apparatus, equipment, stations and grounds
• Quicker response time to fire and medical calls
• Volunteers are still very much needed and required
Voters were heavily in favor of both propositions. Barry County voters supported Proposition 1 with 435 yes votes to 141 no votes. Stone County supported the proposition with 212 yes votes to 87 no votes. On Proposition 2, Barry County voters supported it with 367 yes votes against 207 no votes. Stone County supported Proposition 2 with 185 yes votes to the 118 no votes.
Proposition 1 passed with 73.9 percent of the vote. Proposition 2 passed with 62.9 percent of the vote.
Central Crossing Fire Department is based in Shell Knob. They have nine full time employees and approximately 40 volunteers.
