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Beaver Lake Fire Department grapples with budget even after layoffs

Days after the Beaver Lake Fire Department laid off nearly half of its staff, the district held a board meeting to discuss its budget and stay afloat.

BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — As of Dec. 10, the Beaver Lake Fire Department has six firefighters and EMTs to cover its around 7,000 customers. That number includes the fire chief who is on medical leave. In 2024, the department may be asked to cut even more positions.

"We’re in a budget crisis here,” said Beaver Lake Fire Department Board Member Todd Weber.  

Due to last year's budget shortfalls, on Dec 10, the Beaver Lake Fire Department laid off four of its 10 firefighters and EMTs.

“We’re really down to a skeleton crew," said Beaver Lake Fire Department President John Redwine. We’re having trouble just keeping up with the six people that we currently employ.”

"Personnel-wise, for the month of November, we had 14 days with no one assigned to the firetruck," said Beaver Lake Fire Department Deputy Chief Jon Wright. "We had 16 incidents that were impacted.”

He says staff shortages caused nearby mutual aid partners to pick up the slack. "We had nine incidents with no Beaver Lake firefighters on staff.”

Which Wright says created wait times of up to 25 minutes. With the recent layoffs, there are fears the wait time could grow.

“So, we’ve had some shifts that were left uncovered,” said Redwine. 

Tuesday night, the board discussed the budget committee's proposed budget, which is similar to its 2022 budget. Board members say they don't expect any layoffs in 2023, but come 2024, layoffs are possible.

“This budget lines up with a net income of negative $75,000,” said Chairman of the Budget Committee David Cauldwell. 

That's because they would have to pay back the money they received to buy air packs, which they haven't received, yet. In order to come out even, layoffs aren't out of the question.

“We would have to make more cuts, which would amount to one position,” Cauldwell said.

The board also discussed the future of the fire chief who has been on medical leave for about three months. The board discussed possibly giving him 12 weeks of unpaid leave through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA.) However, nothing was decided.

The board also elected Larry Smith as the interim chairman of the Beaver Lake Fire Department board, as Jeff Dunn resigned to serve on the Benton County Quorum Court.

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