Letter: Benton Fire District 4 evaluating ways to reduce response times

Benton County Fire District 4 is fortunate to have both career and volunteer firefighters dedicated to saving lives and property for our community. We also offer a Firefighter in Residence program, which provides on-the-job training and accommodation for young people who are pursuing a career in emergency services.

This combination department helps save our taxpayers money, compared to hiring additional full-time personnel. We rely on volunteer and resident firefighters to make up approximately 50 percent of our workforce. This number will grow as call volumes and the demand for service increases, particularly in the western part of our service territory.

Fire District 4 is evaluating what it needs to do to reduce response times in the western portions of the district and replace aging apparatus that is starting to exceed its useful life. This will meet the growing emergency service needs of our community as well as help attract and retain volunteers to serve. We look forward to sharing this information with you as our plans develop.

This story was originally published February 19, 2017 at 4:21 AM with the headline "Letter: Benton Fire District 4 evaluating ways to reduce response times."