Annual Dog Day Afternoon & Pet Photos this weekend
October 13, 2009
Richard Anthony Savoie
October 15, 2009
This Saturday’s election will have the Little Caillou Fire Department in Chauvin on the ballot seeking a 16.15 mill property tax renewal, but “renewal” will not be part of the wording in the proposition.
Little Caillou Fire Chief Marty Thibodeaux said the reason for leaving the word off the ballot pertains to fire districts in Terrebonne Parish providing emergency medical services and supplies, such as defibrillators.
“We were shocked about ‘renewal’ not being in there,” he said. “We were the first district not increasing the rate. We’re asking to collect the same amount as other years.”
All fire districts in Terrebonne have dropped that wording from their tax propositions to allow for medical services and supplies the departments provide, he said.
Little Caillou responded to 670 calls in 2008. Most of them, 490, were medical.
Acadian Ambulance keeps the majority of its ambulances in Houma, said Thibodeaux, who has been fire chief for 16 years. The Little Caillou Fire District covers an area running from the southern city limits of Houma to Cocodrie and includes 29 miles of La. Highway 56. Thibodeaux said ambulances can take 30 to 40 minutes to answer calls.
“So the 911 system calls us out. We render aid the best we can,” he said. “We run advanced life support and have volunteer paramedics.”
Little Caillou uses some of the revenue from the property tax, which brings in an estimated $1.1 million yearly, to purchase emergency medical supplies.
“It’s not our goal to buy ambulances,” Thibodeaux said. He also said Acadian Ambulance gives back equipment used by the fire district on emergency calls.
Little Caillou is a combination fire department, with paid and volunteer personnel. The department has 10 paid full- and part-time employees, 30 volunteer active firefighters and 57 fire support members. Three of the district’s four fire stations run 24 hours a day, and Thibodeaux said the district is trying to keep the fourth one open around the clock.
The second-highest number of calls (54) received by the department in 2008 was for motor vehicle accidents, followed by 46 calls for various types of fire. The department responded to 22 false alarms in 2008.
Paid personnel operate the district’s 5 fire trucks. The department also has two rescue vehicles, two rescue trucks and two service vehicles that carry additional equipment.
Thibodeaux said all the vehicles are in good shape but they are aging. The oldest is from 1978; others date from 1981 and 1986. One was purchased last year.
“When I first started here, we were in the red,” he said, but around a decade ago, Little Caillou began purchasing vehicles with cash only to avoid interest payments.
The department constructed a new $1.5 million administration and training building in 2008 near the southern limit of Chauvin on La. Highway 56. Vital equipment there can be kept 20 feet high in the main building where fire vehicles are parked.
In the back of the building is the Tri-District Fire Training Center, operated jointly by the Little Caillou, Montegut and Bourg fire departments.
The training center, situated on more than two acres of land, has a National Fire Protection Association-approved burn building and a drill tower used by the three fire departments.
To train personnel, fires can be set off safely inside the burn building – made up of stacks of railroad cargo containers – without damaging the structure. The building was completed in California andshipped to Chauvin.
On the drill tower, which is more than 20 feet tall, firefighters practice laddering and repelling. The center will soon have a facility allowing Chauvin firefighters to practice combating high-pressure gas fires as well.
Other fire departments also train at the center, as does LSU.
So far, around $300,00 has been spent to build the training center. Thibodeaux said the final cost will be approximately $600,000. He said much of the funding for the training center came from state money secured by former state Sen. Reggie Dupre, with matching funds supplied locally.
Also on the ballot Saturday in district elections in Terrebonne is a 6.5 mill property tax renewal proposition for Road Lighting District No. 3A near Bourg. Revenue from the tax funds streetlights and lighting in other public places.
Personnel with the Little Caillou Fire Department in Chauvin responded to a call last week on La. Highway 56. A Pointe-aux-Chenes man was found unconscious in his vehicle on the side of the highway and taken to Terrrebonne General Medical Center. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF
