City of Greenfield forms new fire department
The city of Greenfield now has its own fire department.
It’s a change from the fire and emergency services the city has had for decades.
Since 1940, the Greenfield Fire Protection District has responded to fire and emergency medical services in the city of Greenfield and the surrounding areas.
As of this week, the fire district is now transitioning into a fire department.
The major difference between a Fire Protection District and a fire department is where they get their source of funding.
“The fire district exists mostly on property taxes and in this area that is not as sustainable as it is with the city, so we’ve moved over and taken advantage of the city’s general fund and measure c which was voted by the people here in Greenfield,” said Interim Fire Chief, Jeff Terpstra.
More than two thirds of voters passed Measure C during a special election last May, it called for a special parcel tax to pay for the services.
on Monday, the city’s fire personnel were all sworn in.
They said response times for emergencies won’t change because crews will still be based out of the station on Oak Avenue.
According to the city’s website, Greenfield’s population is expected to hit more than 42,000 residents in seven years, which makes the change even more important.
“it’s important that if the city’s going to grow to the levels that are anticipated that it has a strong and robust police department and a strong and robust fire department, and so the stability of funding,” said Chief Terpstra.
“I don’t think their quality of services will be changing but they need to hire more people probably if we increase on our population and our housing and our structures so they’ll need more coverage,” said Greenfield resident, Pamela Starnes.
The booming marijuana industry also plays a role in funding for fire resources.
Greenfield’s Mayor Pro Tem, Avelina Torres said, “A lot of it had to do with the medical cannabis industry that came into our town. We are using some of that money to fund a lot of these projects that we have going for our city and some of that money is to help keep it here.
