GREENSBURG — The St. Helena Parish Fire District 4, established in 2000, has closed for operations due to a lack of funding and an insurance lapse according to its fire chief.
District 4 is the only paid fire department in the parish. In addition to answering calls within their district, if the volunteer stations need extra assistance, they must help answer those calls, Fire Chief Brad Graves told UWK.
District 4 is paid through a contract with the police jury to run medical and rescue calls in the parish, Graves said.
He said insurance more than doubled last year — from $20,000 to $58,000. Then it changed to more than $100,000.
“I’ve gotta do what I’ve gotta do to keep running,” Graves explained. “So we signed up with the payment plan, and then we started getting behind on paying it.”
Graves told UWK that he approached the St. Helena Parish Police Jury before signing the new insurance policy in April because he felt confident that the District would need financial help before the year’s end.
That help hasn’t come, he said.
The monthly payments have “eaten up” the money set aside for flooding and hurricane issues, Graves said.
Due to a 9% emergency call increase this year and more severe calls, Graves said things were getting tighter for his district.
“It just kept getting worse. I ended up laying two guys off to where it was just me,” he told UWK. There are five volunteers now, which includes Graves — down from three paid firemen and 12 volunteers.
The insurance policy was canceled on Oct. 23.
“I have no liability on my trucks, buildings, people, nothing,” Graves said.
Starting next week, the fire district will be out of money. Graves said he was able to request a vehicle from the police jury to be able to answer some medical emergency and rescue calls, but that the department itself is unable to answer calls.
Because they cannot use District 4 fire trucks, Graves said he is relying on other volunteer districts to help with fires. Other districts take at least five more minutes to respond to calls in District 4.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office reported a fire in St. Helena Parish that took place on the evening of Nov. 2. Fire District 4 and 5 responded to the scene of a house fire just outside the Hillsdale community.
When they arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames. A woman’s body was later found in a bedroom, and the State Fire Marshal’s Office says the victim is likely the 86-year-old homeowner.
Although Graves doesn’t know if his team or fire trucks could have made a difference, he is frustrated that he had to wait for more assistance since he is legally not allowed to use his own district’s equipment right now.
Graves said there were plans to work with the insurance company and the police jury, but that the police jury has stopped responding to his requests for assistance.
In the past, Fire District 4 was able to receive some grants to help with equipment costs, but isn’t sure if getting grant money will be likely any time soon.
Currently, he is uncertain when things will change, but estimates that it’ll be until January that his district will be shut down.
Graves is frustrated with the situation and said he is desperate to get things right again to help the people of his district.
“I’ve been running this department for 25 years. If you call us, it doesn’t matter time of day, time of night, we’re coming with everything we’ve got to take care of you and, your family.”
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