By Kiera Morgan:

North Lincoln Fire & Rescue (NLF&R) District #1 was formed with the merger of two Volunteer Firefighter Districts in 1997, which have been serving the communities of North Lincoln County since 1937. NLF&R has seven paid employees who manage administrative tasks and are available during business hours.  Calls are responded to through the service of dedicated volunteer firefighters; they provide 24 hour day, night and weekend response from their homes or on standby shifts at two of the District’s six stations.  The District has experienced a large increase in call volume since the 1997 merger.

Tomorrow (3/8)North Lincoln Fire & Rescue’s Board of Directors will vote on weather to ask District voters to consider a five-year local option levy to fund the hiring of 12 firefighters and one Paramedic Fire Officer,  continue District Volunteer programs, and fund general operations of the District. The proposed rate for this measure is $0.84 per $1,000 of assessed value.  Based on the best information available from the county assessor at this time, the owner of property assessed at $200,000 would pay an estimated $168 per year.

If this levy passes it will expand the fire district’s abilities to respond quicker making the District a “combination volunteer and paid on-call” modern 24/7 fire district. Since the merger in 1997 the District emergency call volume has more than doubled from 1022 calls in 1997 to 2,154 calls in 2016. Although the emergency call volume has increased volunteer firefighter numbers has decreased from 63 in 2007 to 43 in 2017.  Further, less firefighters are responding to calls. If approved by the board the levy would be put on the May ballot.

Historical information provided by NLFR Jim Kusz.