It was brought to my attention early this week about some issues pertaining to our rural volunteer fire departments that the people of the county should know about. The new contract between the county and the volunteer fire departments were issue for all the chiefs to sign. However, there were 3 more pages added which involved more responsibilities for these tireless volunteers to accomplish with an already below par budget of

1,800 dollars a year. A few things to note here are how the volunteers are now supposed to pay out of that, maintenance of all their fire apparatus, maintenance of the station and station grounds, electric bill, fuel bill, phone bill and insurance on the contents of the fire department itself. Oh and last but certainly not the least. The fire departments are now supposed to limit their fundraising functions to one a year.

In today's economy, I can certainly understand the lack of budget, as all counties and municipalities alike are facing the same trials and tribulations. But to put the safety and lack of fire protection for the citizens of the county, and especially the lack of safety of the volunteer firefighters is horrendous. It's time something is done about this (these) issues between the county officials and one of the counties most valuable public services. I don't know about you, but I could easily use up 1,800 dollars on necessities a month alone! Much less a year! Safety equipment for these men and women for firefighting isn't cheap. It cost in between 6 to 8 thousand dollars to train and "suit up" one of these firefighters. So are we going to continue to jeopardize the health and safety of these brave men and women who do this for free just to pinch a penny? I surely hope not. So citizens of Matagorda county, call and educate your commissioners and county judge on the importance of this issue and the importance of the volunteer fire department.

Because without your volunteers, who is going to answer the call when there is no money left in the budget to put fuel in the trucks? Without

volunteers, who would we be?

Michael A. Furrh

EMT- Paramedic / Firefighter

EMS Instructor