Tim Darland/Gwen Berry
A quick recap of 2015 HPFD activities: Members responded to a total of 100 emergency calls this year, up from 82 last year. Once again, the largest category was Medical Calls (35), followed by Wildland Fires (22) and Motor Vehicle Accidents (21). The pie chart shows the call types and numbers.
The table below shows that HPFD members volunteered a total of 2,673 hours in 2015. This is calculated by taking the number of hours the Fire District spent on training/maintenance activities and emergency responses, and multiplying them by the number of personnel that participated in each activity.
By then multiplying the total volunteer hours by $23 (the average Emergency Services hourly wage, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics), it turns out that High Prairie’s volunteer firefighters provided a very valuable service to the community. The value of their 2015 combined service came to a whopping $61,469.
Thank you to department members and their families for the commitment they give to HPFD and the community. We’ve put a value of service on their volunteer hours, but let’s just face the facts that they truly are invaluable!