23/10/2019
The Friends of Higgins Fire for Enhanced Services fundraiser on October 19 on Rincon del Rio in Auburn, near the Bear River bridge on HWY 49 was a big success. Silent and regular auction helped to raise funds for the following:
March 3, 2020 ballot -- If passed, it will add staff and provide paramedic services. It would replace the current parcel tax with a fee of $20 a month. Our parcel tax has never been raised since the inception of the district in 1980 - $25 per year per parcel. That was based on 100 calls a year and now Higgins Fire receives over 1,100 calls per year. The failure of the measure in 2015 resulted in the closure the Dog Bar Station. The result has been the need for Higgins to move staff from station to station like a giant chest game. For example, if there is a fire in the Dog Bar station area, Higgins station staff is called in and McCourtney station staff comes to cover the Higgins station. This results in increased response times throughout our 91 mile district.
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In addition to staffing all three stations, we will be adding paramedics who are able to provide enhanced medical services prior to the arrival of an ambulance. In this area, ambulances can take up to 25 minutes to arrive.
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