Letter: Fire district seeks feedback from community

Benton County Fire District 1 serves 17,800 people over 320 square miles. Our service area includes unincorporated areas of Benton County such as Finley, Rancho Reata, Badger Canyon, Triple Vista, and Tri-City Heights.

I’m writing to ask for feedback from people in our service area. Currently, 90 percent of all our EMS calls require patient transportation to area hospitals and we rely on neighboring fire agencies to provide this service. The response from outlying agencies can take longer to reach you in an emergency, and it also impacts resources our mutual aid partners need to serve their communities.

Presently, we can’t afford an ambulance transport program, but it represents a real need for our service area. As a result, we are considering asking voters to approve an EMS levy and want their input on the idea. The maximum we could ask for is 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, but I think we could run a quality program for less.

Please send an email or letter to me at the address below. We look forward to hearing from you.

This story was originally published March 14, 2017 at 4:30 AM with the headline "Letter: Fire district seeks feedback from community."