Sara Stadem | Editor
Most in the Harford community and surrounding areas know that when help is needed, whether it’s pertaining to a car accident, a medical emergency or a fire, help is just a phone call away with the Hartford Area Fire and Rescue (HAFR). What most do not know is what it takes to maintain that service.
Fire Chief Matt Horn explained the HAFR is 100% on a volunteer basis, currently with a total of 37 volunteers breaking down to 29 firefighters, 20 EMTs and two EMRs; 16 of those individuals performing double duties.
Chief Horn explained there are five chiefs for the HAFR; Fire Chief (Matt Horn), 1st Assistant Fire (Adam Erickson), 2nd Assistant Fire (Jason Crittenden), 1st Assistant Rescue Chief (Connor Vortherms) and 2nd Assistant Rescue Chief (Cami Crouch), each working together to make sure the necessary duties get done to help keep the community safe and help in time of need.
Officers are voted on by members at their annual meeting in December to take office in January and can be re-elected with no term limit, Chief Horn explained.
As the Fire Chief, Chief Horn oversees everything at HAFR. Chief Horn works closely with his 1st Assistant Fire Erickson and 2nd Assistant Fire Crittenden to make sure everything is running smoothly.
Chief Horn explained Erickson is responsible to make sure fire trucks are in working order, any supplies that are needed on the fire side are ready to go and equipment is in working order. Erickson is also responsible to ensure the firefighters are trained appropriately, protocols are being followed and to ensure there is consistency on how HAFR responds to calls.
After every call, Chief Horn said, HAFR is responsible to submit reports to the state which falls on the list of duties for Crittenden, 2nd Assistant Fire, in addition to helping Erickson with his workload.
Job duties for 1st Assistant Rescue Chief Vortherms can consist of anything related to patient care of someone that needs medical assistance. “Roughly 80% of our calls are car accidents, injuries, at-home medical calls, medical attention is needed,” Vortherms said. He continued, “Being 1st Assistant Rescue Chief, my responsibility is to oversee that our trucks are equipped for our calls, to make sure EMTs and EMRs have the training they need and stay certified to treat patients and that the patients get the care that they need. I oversee everything in that aspect.”
Crouch, 2nd Assistance Rescue Chief, helps Vortherms with his duties in addition to ordering the supplies they need and making sure everything is stocked and ready to go. “There are dozens of different things she helps me with; it really is a team effort,” Vortherms said.”
Chief Horn and Vortherms explained that HAFR have monthly meetings with both firefighters and EMT/EMRs that update everyone as to what’s going on. The monthly meetings also include updates on different committees, depending on the season, such as their pancake feed committee, truck committee, etc. They hear from their treasurer during their monthly meeting and provide any updates on operational changes or trainings that are taking place in addition to any new business that members want to discuss.
“HAFR also has a Board of Directors that meets once a month and we talk a lot about the busines stuff, implementing new things, making sure we are doing everything needed to keep us moving forward,” Chief Horn said. He continued, “The department is really member-oriented. The members have most of the say in what goes on in the department and the board is really who makes that happen. The members help make the big decisions and get to vote on what goes on.”
In addition to the monthly meetings, Vortherms said there is also monthly trainings for the
EMT/EMR side of HAFR. Vortherms explained in order to be an EMT, one needs to have a state license and every two years needs to be recertified with a number of training hours in different areas. HAFR hosts different trainings in order to provide the necessary hours for the recertification and provide hands-on scenarios such as stopping bleeding, or working on stroke victims, things that they might come across out in the field, Vortherms said.
Even though firefighters do not need recertification, Chief Horn explained they have training sessions as well on the fire side. Chief Horn said they review skills that would possibly come into plan on calls for them. “Basically, we review skills that we would possibly utilize during a fire call. We cover fires, vehicle extrication, like cutting people out of vehicles, grain bin rescues, ice water rescues, building size up, search rescues and a whole list of different things that we could encounter on the fire side that would be different than that of what the ERM and EMT would see on their calls,” Chief Horn said.
As how HAFR operates, Chief Horn explained there is no on-call schedule for HAFR, volunteers give time when they can and the amount of time they can. When asked what happens if no one is available for a call, Chief Horn said, “It can happen from time to time. We rely on the other departments in the areas, so for us it’s Humboldt and Crooks, but it’s pretty rare no one is available.” He continued, “That speaks to one of the troubles that volunteer departments face these days, the shortage of people willing to volunteer. That’s nationwide, not just here in South Dakota, there’s been a shortage of people wanting to volunteer for fire departments.”
Chief Horn said, “Last year, our volunteer members completed a total of 1,250 combined hours of training and spent over 1,400 hours out on calls. That’s tracked time from the time we get paged and when the truck gets back to the station.” He continued, “That doesn’t include doing reports, restocking supplies and getting ready for the next call.”
For HAFR, it’s not just the time for the volunteer members, there’s a cost associated to it all as well.
To equip one firefighter is very expensive, Chief Horn explained. It costs about $4,000 for a set of bunker gear for one firefighter which needs to be replaced every 10 years.
Replacing equipment around HAFR is based on required rotation such as bunker gear being every 10 years, extrication tools is every 10 years, SCBA is every 15 years costing $8,000 each and trucks would be about every 15-20 years but there is not a set requirement for that, Chief Horn explained.
In addition to their own expenses, HAFR was recently informed that the State decided to upgrade their system so now all the radios are also needing to be replaced by 2023.
“This is an unplanned expense so everyone in the state is scrambling to try to find a way to replace their radios,” Chief Horn said. He continued, “We have been applying for grants. It’s a 50/50 chance, you may get it, you may not but you can’t depend on them.” Vortherms added, “Radios are our lifeline here so we know we have to figure it out.”
Chief Horn and Vortherms were excited to show their equipment that provides excellent care for the community members in the area. On the Fire and Rescue truck is an EMT Lifepak 15 heart monitor. Vortherms said, “With this, we can see if someone is having a heart attack before the ambulance gets there. If they are going into cardiac arrest, we can shock them back into rhythm.” That machine costs about $27-30,000 brand new.
This truck also has a machine that helps manage an airway if needed, such as if a patient had water in their airway that needed to be suctioned out. That machine costs roughly $1,200.
HAFR is also fortunate enough to have a Lucas device. If a patient goes into cardiac arrest, the Lucas device will do the compressions on the patient. Vortherms explained, “We could tire out or not give compressions hard enough. This machine will do it correctly.” Each machine costs about $11,000.
Next was the fire truck. The Engine 1 that HAFR takes on fire calls is equipped with air in the back seat of the fire tucks so the firefighters don’t waste time doing this prior to leaving the state, Chief Horn explained. They can be putting the air on while heading to the scene.
Engine 1 holds 1,000 gallons of water and the second truck, Tender 2, which is the back up to Engine 1, holds 3,000 gallons of water. “So, if we take both trucks out, we immediately have access to 4,000 gallons of water. That’s huge,” Chief Horn said.
Another great feature for the HAFR is the ladder truck, Truck 3. This is a fire truck with a 75-foot ladder that holds 500 gallons of water. “We are the only volunteer fire department in the county other than Sioux Falls that has a ladder truck,” Vortherms said. He continued, “This is critical now with the bigger buildings we have like the hotel, if we would ever need to scale that building in a quick manner.”
After looking around HAFR, Chief Horn explained, “It costs a lot of money to operate a fire station. Everything is expensive. Everything we do here and buy here is expensive.”
Vortherms added, “It all adds up and we can’t let things go past their life expectancy because of what we do with the equipment.”
Despite all of the expenses, Chief Horn and Vortherms are passionate about what they do and the community they service. They explained the equipment they are able to purchase helps to serve the community better in their time of need which is why the HAFR members volunteer.
Chief Horn said, “Basically, this is a business like anything else. We have to get funding and spend our money wisely to provide a service to our great community and we have to stay up to date with our training and certifications.” He continued, “We have to plan for the future of our community which is kind of difficult with the way our community is growing. So, we are trying to stay ahead of that. We are preparing for that and we are doing all of it with people volunteering their time just to give back to the community that they are a part of and live in.”
If you are looking for a way to support the HAFR, they are currently accepting donations as well as applications to become a member. HAFR does send a donation letter every year to residents in their service area for those looking to assist financially. For more information, please call the station to donate or get an application for a membership.