Hailey Fire Department, Wood River Fire & Rescue
BY JEFF BACON
Responding to approximately 450 emergency calls per year, Hailey Fire and Rescue is the primary first responder to calls within the city of Hailey. Fire Chief Craig Aberbach is also an assistant chief for Wood River Fire and Rescue and is on a team that is laying the groundwork for a consolidated fire department that will use the resources from both organizations.
Last week, The Chamber had a chance to sit with Chief Aberbach and find out about some of the challenges facing his departments and learn about the community programs being developed.
TC: There have been discussions about consolidating firefighting resources for many years in the Wood River Valley. Why is now the right time?
CA: The culture of all of the organizations that need to be involved in such an undertaking has changed enough that everyone is now on the same page. Every fire department is dependent on the other. We share employees, we share resources – the time is right. We’re looking at how other fire departments have done this in other parts of the state and country. There are plenty of great models; we want to do it right the first time.
TC: You came to the Wood River Valley in November of 2013 from a city in Florida. What’s been your biggest adjustment to living in the Valley?
CA: There really wasn’t much to adjust to that was unexpected. We are really enjoying the fact that there is an actual change of seasons. And we really appreciate the hominess of Hailey and how welcoming everyone has been since we arrived.
TC: You’ve been very involved in the community since moving here. What’s the next project you’re working on?
CA: We’re very happy to announce that we worked with the school district to build a program that gives all Wood River High School juniors access to learn CPR. This is our first year to be able to offer this and we’re looking forward to seeing the results. Also, on the success of our first two chili cook-off events, we’re adding a Father’s Day weekend event that will be centered around ribs and beer and we’ll move the chili cook-off to the fall.
TC: We’re obviously in the middle of wildfire season and not out of the woods until it starts cooling down and getting a bit wetter. What are the challenges your departments face every year at this time?
CA: Idaho doesn’t have the infrastructure to manage the wildfire season without relying on local departments around the Pacific Northwest. Every year we will send teams to help in other parts of the state because that’s what we need to do. Both Hailey Fire and Wood River Fire’s call volumes are up this year, so having some of our team out for weeks at a time does put a strain on our own systems.
Jeff Bacon is The Chamber’s membership director. For more information, visit www.haileyidaho.com or call The Chamber at (208) 788-3484.