Shiner VFD: Other facilities need attention, too

With all the focus given to finding Shiner firemen a new home, Shiner’s existing firehouse now finds itself in need of substantial repairs, department leaders have said for some months now.

Spending money on a place you plan to abandon doesn’t make good financial sense. Especially not when every dime is needed to cover the costs of a new place. 

So, when maintenance issues like a leaky roof or malfunctioning air conditioners crop up, it was tolerable. It was only temporary, after all.

But, between the fire and EMS crews who share the space, the Shiner Fire Station is nearly always occupied by someone now, around the clock. 

With the lone bid offered to build a new place soundly rejected last week— as it should have been, Chief Billy Petru noted, because the price of it nearly doubled over the last year — one fact has gotten clearer by the day that the conditions at the existing fire station are not nearly as tolerable as they once were, especially as their present digs don’t appear to be as temporary as they once thought they might be.

How to address the fixes that building needs is something the volunteers and the city need to have a conversation about soon, Petru said. 

Why? Because between the fleet of fire trucks that the building helps maintain, combined all their gear and tools of the trade, Petru said they have about $3.375 million worth of stuff deteriorating with each leak that crops up. And that doesn’t account for a single item the EMS crews might have. 

Plus, Petru said, it’s a rather embarrassing look for a city building that’s used more than any other. They might be volunteers, but he takes great pride in that fact — especially in seasons like this one, where volunteers were called out to fight brush fires more and more often. 

Petru said that many of his guys have to clock out to go on these calls—meaning they may not get paid at all, if the call runs long —but he still averages right at 16 firefighters whenever those calls go out.

That’s time each one of them gives to their community. Petru said if Shiner had to pay for the same sort of service it gets now for free, it would cost taxpayers an estimated $1.85 million each year. 

Petru also noted, the volunteer-driven nature of Shiner’s fire department doesn’t make them any less professional. New laws, regulations and liability concerns have narrowed the divide between volunteer departments and professional ones.

They constantly train. Petru said that five of his firemen are getting Firemen 1 and Firemen 2 certifications now, and starting next year, a dozen more are coming on board, all using instructors who are likewise volunteers.

To help with this training, Petru appeared before the Shiner City Council to request that the department be allowed to make use of a suitable piece of land, preferably at the park someplace, where they can erect a live burn house of their own. No department in the county currently has one. Petru said he rather liked being the first in Lavaca County to have that capability. 

Members of the council seemed to like that idea as well. They told him to pick him a place and draw it up. They’ll take a closer look at it, and some of the other concerns he raised, when they meet again next month.