Since Central Coast Fire and Rescue laid off two of their three full time employees back in February due to money problems, the fire district turned over all ambulance service responsibilities to Pac-West Ambulance, which serves a lot of areas in the county north of Waldport. But because that spreads Pac-West a bit more thin, Yachats Fire and Rescue has also stepped in to help.
But then it got even more complicated. Central Coast Fire-Rescue volunteer Rick Booth, who leads the volunteers and doubles as the district chaplain said, in so many words, that a lot of stuff is still very much up in the air in Waldport. Booth said there is a property tax increase on the May ballot which would provide additional revenues for what’s been widely described as a cash-strapped Central Coast Fire operation. Booth said a great many Waldport area/Fire District citizens were, and remain, opposed to the Central Coast Fire District Board bailing out of the ambulance business and turning over district assets to Pac-West.