Henderson Daily Dispatch

Plan Of Fire Protection For Suburbs Is Submitted

County Willing to Pay City on Basis of Calls And Fires or Flat Sum of $1,000 On Annual Basis.

Under which the City would furnish fire protection to adjacent suburban areas before the City Council Monday night at its regular meeting for January. Signed by S. B. Watkins, E. L. Fleming and W. Hight, all members of the Board of County Commissioners and representing that the matter has been the subject of discussion between committees of the county commissioners and the city for several months. The proposal from the committee was referred by the Council Monday night to a committee, which is composed of W. Y. Cooper and T. W. Cooper. The county committee proposed that funds would be included in the county budget to pay for this protection rendered to residents and property owners in the suburban areas. Other plans were suggested for the service. One of them was that $50 would be paid for each fire attended by the fire department outside the city limits. It was provided that should a call prove to be a false alarm, only $25 would be paid to the department that answered. The other alternative would be payment by the county of $15 or $25.00 for all services rendered during the year. It was stated that a part of the argument in favor of the plan would be that such fire protection as rendered would be paid upon the accessibility of the property to the fire department. No mention was made to hydrant facilities.

Availability beyond the immediate city limits. It was cited that available information indicated only 18 hydrants outside the city limits which afford property within a radius of 500 feet of each hydrant a credit on insurance premiums. Thus only a small area would be protected by the use of the fire engines and pumps; however, all of the territory would be available for the use of what is known as the booster tank for small fires which were discovered at their beginning.

It was set forth that the average number of fires per year outside the city limits are about ten per year and the greater percent of them are in territories which are not in reach of a fire hydrant.

The county committee stated that the cost of attending a fire by the fire department at which no water is used is approximately $15 per fire.

Attention was also called to the fact that funds appropriated by the county to pay this fire protection indirectly affects the property owners of the City of Henderson. In that they are paying their part of the county taxes, and that the destruction of any property outside the city limits at which a loss is incurred reduces the amount of property upon which county taxes are derived from, and thus affects the amount of county taxes paid by the citizens living in the city of Henderson.

The statement said the county was desirous of cooperating with the city in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the people of the community, and that it was felt either of the two proposals made is fair to both the county and the city.