Public Viewpoint: Who Will Show Up When Tontitown Residents Need Help?

So who will show up when the citizens of Tontitown have a fire or medical call? The Tontitown Area Volunteer Fire Department or the Tontitown Public Safety Department, which still isn’t set up yet? Someone needs to put the fire out! In the beginning the fire department was working with the city to make it part of the city in two years. That wasn’t quick enough for some members of the City Council. I asked a few questions and heard of a few things the last few days.

  1. How many police oftcers, full-time and parttime, are in the city of Tontitown? Seven fulltime, six part-time, two certified part-time, and three volunteers from Elm Springs.

  2. How many are on duty at one time? The schedule currently ranges from one on duty at all times with double coverage at peak hours of call volume. As of April 1, there are a minimum of two on duty with overlapping coverage by a power shift.

  3. What are the oft cers’ schedules? The oft cers work 12-hour shifts with 10-hour overlapping power shifts and one eight-hour shift per pay period.

  4. Is the city covered 24 hours a day? Yes.

  5. What fi re certifi cations and or training does each oftcer have? One full-time oft cer is Firefighter 1- and 2-certified; the rest are volunteer fi refi ghter-certified (24 hour). One parttimer is Firefighter 1- and 2-certified and four are woodland fi re-certifi ed.

  6. What fi re equipment or gear does each oftcer or the city have? Bunker gear. Four air packs were ordered recently and Sgt. McCormick is working on a detailed asset list as it is not readily available.

My questions were all answered by J. R. Carroll, one of the city attorneys for Tontitown.

It is now known that the city bought a new fi re truck and it has been delivered. Was this approved by the entire council? Are they spending our tax money in ways we want them to spend it?

The Tontitown Area Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1979. They now have two daily fulltime and approximately 25 volunteer fi refi ghters. They started in 1979 with an ISO rating of 10 and now have an ISO rating of 5. This helps lower most homeowners’ insurance premiums. They have built a fleet of fire trucks and fi refi ghting equipment consisting of two engines, a tanker/pumper, a S.T.A.T. truck, a brush truck, a rescue/pumper, a tanker and a service/rescue truck. They each have bunker gear and carry pagers to alert them when there is an emergency.

So the fi nal decision needs to be made by all the citizens of Tontitown. Do we want a Tontitown Public Safety Department or the Tontitown Area Volunteer Fire Department to show up at our house if we have a fire or a medical emergency?

SHERRY PIANALTO

Tontitown

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