Measure A Series: Part 3

This information is the third in a series brought to you by, Massey Insurance Services. At Massey Insurance we want our clients and neighbors to be aware of ways to further save money while striving to ensure you have protection against all possible eventualities. You never know when you might need help!

If you’re an Apple Valley resident, by now hopefully you are aware that two of our five fire stations in the town are closed and not in use. The reason they are closed: we do not have enough funding to keep them open and operational.

Apple Valley Professional Firefighters Association said, “All of us at the Fire District have done what we could to tighten up the budget… as costs continued to rise there was only so much that can be done and hence the closure of the two stations.”

How does this closure affect residents beyond paying more for insurance rates? Safety. On April 21, 2016 Engine Medic Engine 334, Medic Engine 331, and Brush Engine 331 worked a large illegal burn off of Bear Valley Road. This means two out of three stations were on that call, leaving Medic Engine 332 to cover all 206 square miles of Apple Valley.

Apple Valley Fire protection District runs 11,000 calls a year with only three stations responding. This means that when a loved one or you need help, they cannot respond as fast as they need to, because they do not have the staffing they need.

Many might think that because they live near a fire station, they’re covered. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, as these engines are rarely in the station as they are running on average anywhere from 10-30 calls a day.

How can you help this situation? Simple: vote YES on the fire tax on November 8^th, 2016. The money from this tax will ONLY equate to $126.90 a year. For that money, tax payers will get two more open fire stations and five more fire fighters to cover them 24/7. Safety has never cost less.