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Upper Pine gets staffing grant

Upper Pine River Fire Protection District will receive a $650,000 grant to hire more firefighters.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency grant will help rural fire districts maintain minimum staffing levels.

Upper Pine will supplement two years of staffing by rehiring four firefighters laid off last year and three additional firefighters.

“This is a huge benefit for the fire district, and it will allow us to offset the cost of staffing to help build back the reserve fund,” chief Bruce Evans said in a news release. “We need to have a year’s worth of operating expenses in reserve. Through the selling of unnecessary equipment, refinancing of debt and the SAFER grant, we will relieve the taxpayers of more than $1 million in obligations while increasing services.”

The district covers more than 250 square miles of eastern La Plata County and a small portion of Archuleta County. It provides fire protection, wildfire mitigation services, emergency medical services and technical rescue response.



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