iFire - Rescue Funding

iFire - Rescue Funding

! The rides have been taken away, the booths dismantled ; and the last piece of trash picked up. The final parade and I carnival is finished for the season. !• The many carnivals, parades and fireworks are fun and ; help to make Rappahannock summers even more enjoyable. ! They are also vital to the continued operation of much of our ! vital emergency services that we often take for granted. ; Fire departments and rescue squads have two jobs. The ; first job is to put out fires and save lives. The second job is to 1 raise enough money so they can do the first.

Fire and rescue units operate on shoestring budgets. ; They are staffed almost entirely by volunteers. Rappahannock County pays some of the expenses, such as insurance. The ; Amissville and Chester Gap departments also serve neighboring Culpeper and Warren counties, and receive some funding from those jurisdictions. But this money still does not adequately cover their expenses.

To make up the difference, they turn to fund raising and the traditional fund-raisers: fairs and carnivals, parades, fireworks, rides, games, raffles, food and sales. Most departments have one main fund raiser each summer with smaller bake sales the rest of the year. For those who attend and buy the barbecue dinners, raffle tickets, and funnel cakes, it is an almost painless method of raising tax money.

Fairs and carnivals are risky businesses, however-worse, some say, than farming. Like farming, a year of income for the fire department can be made or lost in the space of a few days. And if the weather is too hot, too cold, too wet or too something, that income may not even cover expenses, and additional fund raisers will be needed.

Some of the fire and rescue workers and their spouses enjoy and even thrive on these fund-raising chores; indeed some of the most valuable volunteers do more fund raising than fire fighting. They do an excellent job, and add fun and enjoyment to our way of life.

But should fire departments and rescue squads be forced to rely on carnivals and bake sales for their income? Should the safety of county residents depend on the sale of cookies? Should the departments be forced to spend more time fund raising than in fire and rescue?

We think not. Public funding should be enough to adequately support the fire and rescue departments. They should not have to depend on the vagaries of the weather to determine their available funds.

Don’t misunderstand. We are not suggesting that the carnivals, fairs, fireworks, and bake sales should be discontinued. They are priceless community assets whose value far exceeds the fund raising components.

Let the fairs continue. But don’t make public safety depend on them.