Firing of firefighters creates new flames in dispute between Ivins and Santa Clara

In a file photo, Santa Clara-Ivins firelighters respond to a burning SUV and travel trailer at the driveway of a home on Ridgeview Circle, Ivins, Utah. May 5, 2021 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

IVINS — City Council members in Ivins said they have been angered by the firing of volunteer firefighters from the Santa Clara-Ivins Fire Department. The move was the latest in the dispute between Ivins  and Santa Clara over their joint fire department. 

In a file photo, a Santa Clara-Ivins fire vehicle is on the scene on scene after a vehicle ended up down a cliff 30 feet below Old Dixie Highway 91 just east of the Gunlock Drive intersection, Ivins, Utah, Feb. 4, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

Both sides will have a chance to hammer out their differences in a public forum, as the two cities’ first joint City Council meeting has been set for Aug. 3. 

The chief of the fire department that is overseen by Santa Clara officials with additional funding from Ivins said the removals were because either the firefighters hadn’t been working many shifts or weren’t properly trained. 

The dispute began in May when the Ivins Council voiced its concern that in late 2021, the department began to leave the Center Street Fire Station unmanned, basing all of the two cities’ firefighters and emergency medical services workers based in Santa Clara at the Rachel Drive station. 

On June 16, the Ivins Council authorized $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)  to fully man the Center Street station and an additional $50,000 on July 7 to improve the station’s alert system.  Yet, with the exception of temporary staffing for the July Fourth and Pioneer Day holidays, Center Street remains unmanned.

Ivins City Council member Mike Scott listens to Santa Clara-Ivins Fire Chief Andrew Parker during the council’s meeting at Ivins City Hall, Ivins, Utah, July 7, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

“Now they fire volunteers that could have helped us a lot at Center Street so it’s ridiculous. We’re just mad,” Ivins Council member Mike Scott said during the council’s July 21 meeting. “We paved the way six weeks ago to staff Center Street except they’ve reduced the number of volunteers. We stepped up to the plate but Santa Clara is in control of making it happen and they’re not doing anything.”

At the close of the council’s meeting Thursday as council members were making reports, council member Dennis Mehr revealed he had been told that six or seven volunteers of the department were fired. Volunteers are not full-time employees of the department and get either part-time pay or no pay at all and usually work a day job.

Mehr mentioned one volunteer let go he said had worked for the department for 19 years, first in Ivins and stayed on after Ivins and Santa Clara merged their departments in 2018. 

“She’s missed three days, two because of COVID. She got a call last night from the battalion chief terminating her employment,” Mehr said. “That is not OK. Even if so, you don’t call someone on the phone and terminate them at 8:03 p.m. That is not OK.” 

Andrew Parker, the chief of the Santa Clara-Ivins Fire Department, told St. George News that Mehr’s assertion that “six or seven” volunteers had been terminated was incorrect. He said the department has let go of three volunteers, but added two more at the same time for a net loss of one. 

Santa Clara-Ivins Fire Department Chief Andrew Parker speaks before the Ivins City Council, Ivins, Utah, June 2, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

“We had three people part-time who we let go,” Parker said. “Two hadn’t worked a shift in two to three months. The third we let go because that person wasn’t’ firefighter or EMS trained.”

Parker said for insurance purposes –  the department is required to carry life insurance even for volunteer firefighters – volunteers are required to work at least two shifts a month. He added the department also faces insurance liability for volunteers who aren’t trained, on top of the safety of those volunteers and the people they are trying to protect.

Ivins Council member Jenny Johnson and Lance Anderson have both been volunteer Ivins firefighters in the past. At the council’s July 7 meeting, both expressed concern that the department was shifting away from volunteers. Both sought and got reassurance from Parker, who attended the meeting, that the department would continue to include volunteers in their mix. 

At Thursday’s council meeting, Anderson said he understands the need to bring in more full-time firefighters but said volunteers were still needed. 

“We do need some full-time people, but when you get a few more people to help you it makes a difference,” Anderson said. 

Parker said ultimately, his goal is to make the department more able to respond effectively to fires and emergencies with fully-trained teams. While he said volunteers will be a part of that, his goal has been to move the department away from a majority-volunteer model to a majority full-time model.

“Full-time is just more reliable. It’s just that simple,” Parker said. “They’re going to come to their shift.”

Council member Dennis Mehr at the Ivins City Council meeting, Ivins, Utah, July 21, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

Mehr also took issue with what he said was a new directive from Parker that volunteer firefighters must not respond to fires and incidents directly from their homes or they will be terminated.  

“That makes no sense to me,” Mehr said. 

Parker confirmed the new policy and said the move has to do with making sure the firefighters have the proper gear and vehicles when they respond. Volunteer firefighters in Ivins are required now to go to the Center Street station first to get into gear and use fire vehicles to respond. Parker added that any minutes that are lost is not as detrimental as having firefighters arrive without gear and taking up the road with their vehicles when firetrucks with hoses and equipment need to get in. 

“That’s just for safety,” Parker said. “We want them to be in a fire department vehicle, not speeding in a personal vehicle.” 

That’s also a reason why Parker said any volunteer staying on or joining up needs to be fully trained and that a coordinated response is key to effective firefighting.

In a file photo, Santa Clara-Ivins firelighters respond to a burning SUV and travel trailer at the driveway of a home on Ridgeview Circle, Ivins, Utah. May 5, 2021 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

“When they show up, they need to be coordinated and not going willy-nilly on the fire,” Parker said. “They need to work with the incident commander.”

Ivins Mayor Chris Hart said after an initial meeting with Santa Clara Mayor Rick Rosenberg and county officials on getting the budget and operational go-ahead from Santa Clara for the Center Street reactivation, he has heard nothing further from Santa Clara officials and the Santa Clara Council has yet to have reactivating Center Street on their agenda.

Rosenberg had previously told St. George News the fire department issues would wait for the joint meeting.

The two councils will meet at Santa Clara Town Hall on Aug. 3 at 5 p.m.

“It’s going to be an extremely important meeting,” Hart said. “We need to talk frankly about a number of things.”

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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