Helena Fire Department leaders say it has been about 20 years since they had a significant increase in staffing. That could change this year, if Helena voters approve a new property tax levy in the June 5 primary election.
The proposed levy would raise about $900,000 a year. $600,000 would be used to hire additional firefighters, while the rest would pay for fire apparatus and equipment purchases.
The Helena Fire Department currently has seven firefighters on duty at a time. Chief Mark Emert said that’s enough to handle a single fire or two or three medical calls. If any more calls come in, he said they have to free up resources, or even call in off-duty employees, to cover the incidents.
“We’ve had to try and break away or cut service short on one call to scramble to put together a unit to get to those third and fourth calls,” he said.