Klamath County Fire District #1 is very close to running out of money.
Ata meeting on Saturday, the district board declared a ‘fiscal emergency’ for Klamath County Fire District #1.
“We’re not out of money yet.” Cautioned Fire Chief Jim Wenzel. “But we project that we will run out in May or June.”
Wenzel adds that the district will need to cut spending by over 300 thousand dollars between now, and the end of June…
“We’re looking at some cuts to training, and travel expenses – and we’re also looking at possibly covering the battalion chiefs with regular 40 hour chiefs, to help save the money on overtime.”
Administrators will also be expected to take some furlough days.
Chief Wenzel says no personnel cuts are expected at this time…
“But we’ll be working to see if we do need to cut daily staffing or not.”
Wenzel notes that the pending deficit, and potential solutions were identified in a recent audit.
“We’ll still be in a position where we will extinguish all fires, and as far as patient transport, we’ll make sure that everyone gets to the hospital in a timely fashion.”
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