Lakes of the Four Seasons fire department calls for aid for financial situation
With this year's Senate Enrolled Act 1 promising to choke revenue to the West Porter Township Fire Protection District, combined with a decline in volunteerism, fire protection and EMS service straddling the Lake and Porter County line is facing financial peril.
The fire department and fire protection district jointly approached the Porter County Council on Tuesday to make its case for assistance.
The cuts don't begin until 2027, but the time to cry out is when the knife first appears, not when the slashing begins.
Last year, the district began offering EMS service.
Fire department attorney Nathan Vis said the department's response time for EMS calls is four to five minutes, which is faster than average. With a third-party provider, it would be seven to 15 minutes, he guessed.
'We're requesting this evening as much support as you can give us,' he told the council.
The department has three ambulances, two of which are staffed by full-time employees. 'We need to hire more persons to assure we have a higher response time,' he said.
Providing EMS service costs about $240,000 a year, Vis said.
'We've maxed out the revenue opportunities' the department has, he said. Winfield rents space to the department for $1 a year, about a $10,000 value, he said. Until last fall, the department hadn't had a formal contract nor any government dollars from a Porter County agency, he said.
The fire protection district is looking at becoming a fire protection territory, something Porter County Council members have discussed as an option for funding EMS service and fire protection throughout the county's unincorporated areas. 'Unfortunately, it's going to have to come from the (township) trustees. It's going to have to be the townships coming together,' said Council Vice President Ronald 'Red' Stone, R-1st.
West Porter Township Fire Protection District Chairman Craig Klauer said aging infrastructure, increasing call volume and equipment costs are taking a toll. For now, however, capital expenditures have been put on hold to focus on providing EMS service.
Porter County officials are working on providing ambulance service throughout the county. That includes determining how many ambulances might be needed to serve areas not covered by fire departments that currently provide EMS service.
One option might be to add an ambulance in the Boone Grove area, Stone said. For Lakes of the Four Seasons, the closest ambulance would be from either Hebron or Wheeler if not for the fire department.
'When you're thumping on someone's chest for three to five minutes, you're saying where the hell is that ambulance. When are they going to be here,' Klauer said.
The county currently contracts with Northwest Health to provide EMS service.
'I will never disrespect NW Health ambulance technicians vs. a regular fire department,' Stone said. 'They're great, but they're spread so thin. They're covering mostly northern' Porter County, Klauer said. And while Northwest Health ambulances traditionally transport patients to the hospital at U.S. 6 and Ind. 49, the nearest hospitals for Lakes of the Four Seasons are in Crown Point and Hobart.
'We've got to sit down and go over all this,' said Councilman Greg Simms, D-3rd, who serves on the EMS committee. 'Right now, we're thinking five ambulances throughout the county, but now I'm thinking maybe six.'
Complicating the issue is that Lakes of the Four Seasons, which the fire department serves, straddles the county line. The department also serves the town of Winfield and unincorporated Winfield Township, as well as west Porter Township.
The department and fire protection district have a spreadsheet that separates the call volume by geography to help guide financial decisions by local government entities that could help support fire protection and EMS service.
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