Amador County – Paid staff have taken the wheel of Amador Fire Protection District fire engines around the county this month after a four-day training session in Sutter Creek.

AFPD District Administrator Dominic Moreno said: “It’s a huge step forward for Amador County and one of many we’ll be making over the next 10 or 20 years.”

Moreno coordinated a fire fighter academy class, along with the new AFPD Battalion Chief Dave Bellerive, on October 11th, and the new staff took over their first work shifts October 14th in Plymouth, Pioneer and Sutter Creek.

Ron Watson, board member of the Sutter Creek Fire Protection District, said the fire academy at Sutter Creek’s main station showed Measure M money being spent the way that voters wanted. He said about half the class was local volunteers, while the others were from around the state.

Moreno said the class – 11 men and one woman – make up the new paid personnel hired to staff AFPD stations around Amador County. The training was to familiarize the personnel with the equipment and the way things are done in Amador County. They also got to meet those they will be working with on AFPD calls.

The personnel are nine engineers who will work full time and three fire fighters to work weekdays. Moreno said on “days, nights, and weekends, the volunteers are still going to respond.”

Moreno said “there’s probably 100-120 volunteers in Amador County,” the main force for emergency services, and they have “slowly started supplementing them with paid personnel,” since passing Measure M.

If there is a call in Sutter Creek, the engineer will drive the engine to the scene, and volunteers will meet them there, Moreno said. Sometimes the volunteers will not be needed, so they are not closing their shops or leaving their jobs. The goal is to eventually handle calls around the clock with paid personnel.

Moreno said the engineers and fire fighters trained four days, during which AFPD was trying to immerse the individuals and change them from volunteer workers to full time employees. They taught them how the district handles calls in Amador County and “talked a lot about customer service.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.