At the last fire district open house commissioner David Hannity said we have figured out how to make money and we are going after it. What he means by this is we are forcing out the private company American Medical Response and going into the transport business. We now have a new ambulance to add to our two others, plus a slew of new union fireman to man them and charge for their service. How much revenue? Projections are $200,000 per year. Does this cover the cost of operation and the new crew members…not even close!

Some would say, Dave, you have figured out how to lose money. I just wish it was your money and not the taxpayers.

With a grant they received, the new fire district has hired new firemen and bought a new ambulance with cash they had on hand. This grant money will run out and when it does who is going to pay for the new crew? AMR is no longer even contacted by our fire department to help with calls. They will say AMR is not dependable and many other negative things.

Let’s take a look at our friends to the south. The Buckley fire chief has made agreements with AMR, a private organization to provide paramedic service 24/7 at no cost to the taxpayers. AMR provides a full time staff of trained paramedics (Enumclaw’s transport service does not employ trained paramedics) to assist the fire department in helping people in need of care and transporting them to care facilities at no cost to the tax payer. The same company also provides the ambulance at no charge to the taxpayers. All Buckley provides is a driver in the form of a volunteer fire fighter.

Again, no cost to tax payers.

Now, if you are the fire union, ousting AMR is great news. Full-time members are hired to help push out the volunteers. It’s no wonder states are going broke. Federal Way just turned down a grant to hire new police officers. They were smart enough to figure out they had no funds to pay their salaries after the grant money was gone. Tacoma fireman just gave concessions in order to keep their jobs while Enumclaw is hiring and handing out raises left and right!

The Enumclaw area does have another transport service called Medic 1 and they are trained paramedics. If you live near the Krain Corner you might see them on occasion. They also cover Black Diamond and Kent. Medic 1 is claimed to be the best in the nation. We taxpayers pay for their service also on top of our fire levies. What makes this more interesting is King County doesn’t allow private companies like AMR to hire paramedics in King County but Pierce County does. So people in Buckley have better-trained people to provide medical emergency service than Enumclaw at no cost to the taxpayer.

This sounds like another union law invented by some bureaucrats in King County to protect Medic 1 jobs. Currently if you do need a ride from AMR you will get a bill. If you have Medicaid or personal medical coverage it will be covered. You will also get a bill from our fire department if they give you a ride, they have figured out how to make money, remember?

You are correct Mr. Hannity, this is a money maker. If you are a fireman it is highly profitable. If you are a taxpayer you are getting robbed.

Fire districts should be against the law. The taxpayer has no way to stop runaway reckless spending. The Enumclaw Fire Department is spending taxpayer money like kids in a candy store. I believe it would be best if all three fire commissioners stepped down from their positions for wasting taxpayer funds.

Mike Qualls

Enumclaw