Fire Chief Miller Updates HSVPOA Board at 2024 Retreat

Hot Springs Village POA Fire Chief Jason Miller presented an update at the Board Retreat on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. He discussed financials, headcount, staffing schedules, salaries, fleet, annual duties, and more.

Miller said the fire department generates $13,200 in revenue from the building rental to LifeNet Emergency Medical Services (ambulance). Fire department expenses are $2,071,740. There are no capital expenses in 2024. “We do have capital in the fleet, and that is our new pumper, scheduled tentatively to be delivered in June 2024 and one in 2025.

The revenue for ambulance service is $866,858, collected from the water bill and used to pay the LifeNet Contract.

Staff Headcount

Hot Springs Village has 22 firefighters, including Miller. Twenty-one are full-time and work 24-hour shifts. Firefighters are on call seven days a week, 365 days a year, and average 56-hour work weeks.

Three shifts fill the 365-day schedule, with seven on duty every day. The seventh man covers the vacant shift when a firefighter is off due to paid time off (PTO) or illness. Sometimes, it is necessary to call in additional help because two guys may be off.

There are three shifts;

• A shift is in charge of our fleet and maintenance scheduling.
• B shift is in charge of ordering and keeping up with all supplies.
• C shift oversees Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and uniforms.

New Hire Firefighter Salary

A new-hire firefighter starts at $11.55 an hour, providing a yearly wage of $24,024 for 40 hours a week. In addition to the 40 hours, he also works 16 hours overtime each week at an overtime hourly rate of $17.33, which increases his yearly pay by $14,418.56 for a total of $38,442.56 pay per year. This averages to a total hourly rate of $13.21.

Fire Department Fleet

The fire department fleet consists of:

• Four pumper trucks (engines). One is a backup truck.
• One aerial ladder truck with a 107-foot ladder and elevated water stream. “The elevated water stream saves a lot of man hours and is good for safety.”
• One light rescue unit
• One service van
• Fire / Rescue boat
• Polaris Ranger with forestry skid unit
• Smoke trailer to use for teaching at local schools in October (usually) for fire safety week.
• Two 4 x 4 trucks – Dodge Dakota and Ford F-250 3/4 ton – The Dodge Dakota pulls the boat and the Polaris Ranger on a trailer. The F-250 pulls the smoke trailer. The trucks are also used to pick up supplies and for other purposes.

Fire Department Annual Duties

Miller explained that the fire department performs several annual duties.

• From March through June, we start testing 15,000 feet of hose and reloading all the trucks with the tested hose.
• June is the time to inspect ladders, including the ladder truck, to the National Fire Protection Association Standard (NFPA).
• We test, clean around, and inspect the fire hydrants from July through September.
• In August, all pumps are tested by a third party to the NFPA standard.
• From October through December, we inspect over 128 commercial buildings, churches, POA facilities, etc. for fire and life safety.
• There is monthly training and also 16 hours of state-certified training.

Fire Department Programs

The HSV Fire Department is actively involved with the community in numerous programs.

• Smoke alarm battery change and inspection – We inspected about 230 smoke alarms last year.
• We are a National Firewise Community. “Being part of a recognized Firewise USA® community means reporting the ongoing work residents complete each year to reduce their wildfire risks while addressing the areas identified in the community wildfire risk assessment. Every year, the community must submit an annual renewal to maintain its “Firewise USA^® Status.”
• The fire department provides CPR instruction to organizations, churches, and all POA employees.
• A retired firefighters group was started.

Annual Responses January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023

Miller said their major responses are rescue and emergency medical. We also assist LifeNet in first response with major medicals, which include cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, and strokes. The fire department also responds to falls.

In 2023, the fire department had 46 false alarms and 1008 calls.

Report compiled by Cheryl Dowden