Information-only meeting to see if merger is possibility, no decisions made

It was a momentous day for fire and rescue in the Stanley-Boyd-Thorp area on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

Starting off the morning just past 3 a.m., a call for a car vs. tree accident on Highway H one mile south of Stanley saw Boyd-Edson- Delmar Ambulance head out in subzero temperatures, with a crashed car but no one at the crash site once help arrived. Why someone would abandon a crash site in such weather, was not known for certain.

Later that day after 1 p.m, Stanley Fire along with Boyd-Edson-Delmar (B-E-D) and the Chippewa Fire District ambulance with Dive and Rescue, responded to a call of someone falling through the ice at Otter Lake while riding an ATV. The man was able to get himself out and call in the situation, but was suffering the onset of hypothermia when help arrived. In the process of getting the man off the ice, two Stanley firefighters were also briefly transported to Aspirus by Boyd-Edson-Delmar for overexertion, with the man who fell through brought to Mayo Eau Claire, cold and unable to move at first, but alive.

Finally and later that same day towards 8 p.m., an ambulance was heard leaving the Thorp Area Fire and EMS building for parts unknown, as inside a meeting took place on possible merger between the Stanley, Boyd, and Thorp fire and ambulance services.

Attending the meeting for Stanley were Stanley Fire Chief Korey Hagenson and department members along with Al Haas, Mark Fitzsimmons and Holly Kitchell, while Boyd-Edson-Delmar saw Dale Isaacs, Bob Geist, and Sarah McQuillan show up, alongside Don Schesel, George Wellner, and B-E-D Fire Chief Ron Patten. Thorp Area Fire Chief Paul Skibbie was also present at the meeting with other Thorp officials.

With Thorp Area Fire Board President Tom Smasal taking the role of chief moderator at the get together, the meeting was attended by fire board, fire fighters, and municipal officials from all three communities. No decisions were made at the information only meeting, posted as such in three public places for each community prior to the big day. Nonetheless, the prospect was there. Was it possible?

“I’m looking for the betterment of this whole area,” Smasal said as he shared that he had Stanley roots and thought that small communities needed to get over their rivalries to help each other out. With further action and decisions left to each community as things wound down, several challenges and possible solutions were identified nonetheless:

• A possibility of saving money on equipment and maintenance.

The need to balance service in a broadened coverage area by purchasing of additional equipment, such as additional ambulances.

• The problem of volunteer firefighters needing permission from their full-time employers to leave work on calls, affecting overall availability and response times.

• Addressing such availability issues with a full-time fire chief and ambulance personnel, who would then be supplemented by assistant fire chiefs and volunteers.

• The question of dispatch times in a multi-county district and possible solution of assigning dispatch to the county of origin.

• The cost of fire equipment generally and contemporary struggle by smaller departments to recruit and retain personnel, with full-time positions elsewhere serving to lure away part—time workers.

As to the finances surrounding a merger, it was shared that Stanley currently had a budget of $155,000, while Boyd-Edson-Delmar’s was $39,000, split equally between residents in the three municipal divisions. In addition, residents of Wilson and part of Colburn were charged for calls by Boyd-Edson-Delmar, with Cornell also covering part of Colburn township.

As to Thorp, the city and four member townships were included in the current district, with township fees structured per capita rather than by valuation. Lublin and Roosevelt had bought in previously Thorp Area Fire also has a contract with Butler township.

“Speaking for the City of Stanley we’re ready to sit down and talk,” Haas said.

“We’re struggling with staffing, just like everybody else,” Fitzsimmons said. The City of Stanley has a hospital but no ambulance service, with current personnel limited to emergency responders (EMRs) rather than EMTs (Emergency Technicians) as a result. Having an ambulance was a prerequisite for EMT status, affecting willingness to pay for the test.

Boyd-Edson-Delmar, meanwhile, had 25 EMTs for its ambulance but an estimated six who took the majority of calls, it was made known. B-E-D Fire Chief Ron Patten shared that Boyd handled about 600 ambulance calls a year, while just three of 10 EMT candidates the village had sponsored had so far passed the test, taken as a testament to its rigor. Thorp had 28 EMTs at one time. To staff ambulances, Smasal pointed out, took people.

“To man that ambulance 24/7, you need people 24 hours a day,” he said. As to fulltime positions in a merger, McQuillan had a question for Smasal.

“What’s your thinking on full-time staff?” she asked.

“What it takes to do the job for our district,” Smasal said. Full-time personnel could cost more, but such positions were also seen as a way to prevent the problem of part-timers cycling through on their way elsewhere, a problem addressed in the police realm by pooling resources for Stanley-Boyd to create a new full-time position after both had suffered a revolving door of part-time recruits.

As to how Thorp became involved and why it wasn’t just a Stanley-Boyd merger given the long connection between the two communities, Dale Isaacs shared that there had been a brief discussion three years back on the issue, but that this had been dropped. A show of hand was asked by Smasal on those interested, with one attendee asking for more clarity on just what was under consideration before raising their hand. McQuillan made a suggestion.

“How about ‘to pursue more information and learning about it,” she said.

The present Dec. 21 meeting at the Thorp Fire Hall adjourned with no definite decisions being made, but time taken for small talk afterwards.

“We’ve got to get over this Thorp, Stanley, Boyd rivalry,” Smasal said. “We’re all neighbors.”