The Lane Fire Authority has tried twice over the past year to convince voters to approve a local option levy. It would have increased the already existing levy to 55 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value.
The levy was rejected in both November and May.
But with the original levy expired and the increase attempt failed, Lane Fire Authority, which serves a wide swath of western Lane County, will reduce their staff and remove trainings and services.
Rose Douglass, the assistant fire chief, said people will see the effects of the cuts, especially the loss of two peak-hour ambulance units.
“That was 80 hours of ambulance availability, which is going to be a significant cut to our community,” Douglass said. “That does mean folks could be waiting longer for ambulances than maybe they were previously used to. It might mean that we need to rely on our auto aid ambulance coming from Eugene Springfield.”
The loss of CPR classes, new firefighter trainings and wildfire mitigation assessments will also leave the community with fewer resources to protect themselves, Douglass said.
“With us in the community, we were able to push it onto people a little more. We'd show up to the farmers market and have a safety booth, so that as people come by, we're like, ‘Hey, we have this information here,’” she said. “Although those resources are definitely available online, oftentimes community members don't even know they should be looking at it, and so that's where I think we're going to see a gap.”
Without levy funding or an accepted federal grant, Douglass said Lane Fire Authority is in a difficult position as wildfire season approaches.
“At this point, we do believe we will be able to fund the cost to do a little bit of up-staffing in the summer, because we are very, very concerned about this wildfire season,” she said. But with two fewer ambulances, they could be spread thin across the region.
The Fire Authority board is also discussing increased fees for ambulance rides and other resources to make up the losses.
Douglass said community members in the region should stay educated on the levies and Fire Authority, and be ready for more upcoming information.
