Don Olson rides shotgun in a Crescent City Fire & Rescue truck at the 2021 Fourth of July parade. | Photo: Jessica C. Andrews

Along with adopting the 2023-24 fiscal year budget, Crescent City councilors on Monday approved the creation of a new fund offering additional support to volunteer firefighters.

Though a memorandum of understanding between the City Council and the Crescent Fire Protection District’s Board of Directors is necessary, the fund would consist of $8,000, which would be split evenly between both agencies.

That money will come from stipends from volunteer firefighters who work more hours than they’re able to be compensated for, Crescent Fire Protection Chief Kevin Carey told councilors.

“We have some absolutely dedicated individuals who go on calls in this department and some of them exceed what they are allowed to be compensated for,” Carey said. “We can’t over compensate or we lose our status as volunteers. That overage money will be calculated and set aside in this fund and with my oversight, we would work with our members to see what kinds of needs we have.”

Crescent City Fire and Rescue is jointly funded by the Fire Protection District and Crescent City.  The fire department is one of the city departments that receives Measure S sales tax revenue.

This year the Measure S Oversight Committee recommended a net budget for the fire department of $575,587. Those dollars include $388,302 for three paid fire captains, $99,803 for volunteer firefighter stipends and $39,544 for a volunteer station staffing program, according to Finance Director Linda Leaver.

According to Leaver, $75,000 was also rolled over from the previous years to purchase new radios for the fire department.

There are separate line items in the fire department budget for apparatus and truck replacement, Leaver said. The special volunteer firefighter fund could be used for uniforms or smaller items that can be costly for volunteers to furnish themselves, she said.

According to City Manager Eric Wier, who is also a volunteer firefighter, there’s a volunteer firefighters association that purchases items like t-shirts and hats for their members. They’ve also paid for station upgrades like TVs previously, he said.

“This money might go toward equipment needs recommended by the fire chief,” Wier said of the proposed new fund. “The fire chief will work with volunteers to find out what are some of those needs so your nonprofit can still fund some of those other items, t-shirts and hats.”

Carey added that the new fund could benefit their volunteers as a whole because of the few that work beyond what they’re compensated for.

The Crescent Fire Protection District Board of Directors is expected to take up the matter at its June 12 meeting. City Councilors will be asked to approve the fund’s amount on June 20, Wier said.

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