The August 12th annexation election has been canceled, and the size of the area proposed to be annexed is smaller. Much of the information on this page is still relevant because much of the smaller area that Bryant and Benton are still trying to annex is in the Salem Community Fire district.

The main Salem Fire station would have been in the city if the canceled annexation vote had passed. The Salem Community Fire Department will continue to operate their Salem fire station with 2 fire trucks and one rescue unit as long as there are clients near the fire station – east of Samples Rd. However, if that area is annexed in the future, there would be no reason for the Salem Fire Department to maintain that fire station. The Salem fire department would be able to respond to fire and rescue calls in the city only if the Benton Fire Department asks for their assistance.

In the notice of proposed annexation, the city of Benton, Arkansas said that they planned to build a fire station near Gregory and Scott Salem Road. In a July 8th Public Hearing, Mark Mills, Assistant Chief of the Benton Fire Department, said they have an alternate location near Salem Road and Rolla Road. Mills has said that "a police substation would be included in the new fire station" and "either one of these locations would be a good place for the new fire station." The new fire station would have one fire truck and 3 firemen. You can view maps of the proposed and alternate locations where Benton may build a new fire station. Even if most of the Salem area is not annexed soon, the Benton Fire Department could build the fire station on Rolla Road as that location is already in the city limits.

A Benton spokesman has been quoted as saying that their Fire Department responds to most Salem Fire Department calls during the day -- 30 this year. At a community meeting on July 5th, Assistant Salem Fire Chief, Mike Moravec, said that figure did not sound correct. He said they are looking into where this information came from. Salem has responded to a total of more than 320 incidents this year. We have a recent unofficial report that the Benton Fire Department has actually responded to 3 daytime fires in the Salem Fire area during the past 8 months.

The proposed Benton annexation would have reduced the Salem Volunteer Fire Department's income by almost a fourth. The annexation sceduled for a vote in October and November 2008 would reduce the Salem Fire Department's income by about 10%. Moravec, says there is a trend of declining volunteerism, and the fire department needs more volunteers. Moravec later told us that no matter what the annexation outcome is, when you call 911, a fire truck will come and handle the emergency. Moravec says that the Salem and Benton Fire Departments have a good working relationship and that will not change.

On July 10, 2008 Assistant Salem Fire Chief, Mike Moravec wrote:

"Even though I am personally opposed to being annexed, I feel fire protection would NOT suffer in the face of this annexation. When you call 911, a fire truck will come, and no matter whose name is on the door of that truck, Salem or Benton, I have complete faith in those who are on that truck to handle whatever the emergency.

Response times from Benton would probably be about the same as ours from the stations they have now; being able to get out the door in just a few moments is an advantage. We still have to respond to the station to get the truck first. And if they have one truck on Gregory road, the second in units will only be two or three minutes behind.

Concerning the alarm responses Benton says they have made in our area, Chief Blankenship said he would look into getting me the documentation on those when we spoke at a meeting in Bentonville a couple of weeks ago. We are both very busy and have had no further contact about it. It is not as if he is refusing to give me information about it. My only gripe here is that for it to be said in the press that Benton handles "many" or "most" of the responses in our area has a negative effect on our public image, and therefore our ability to ask for funding, donations, and volunteers. I simply wish to know actual numbers, instead of terms like "many" or "most of". What I do know is that when we are dispatched, that dispatch is recorded. If our units didn't respond, and the call was then handed off to another department, there would not be a report in our system to go with that recorded dispatch. This doesn't happen very often, but it does, on occasion, happen.

One thing I don't want to occur is for this to become a competition between the fire departments, we have a good working relationship with all of the surrounding fire departments, and when all this dust settles, we all still need for that relationship to be intact, for the good of the communities involved. If we don't work well together, it is the people calling for help that suffer, and I simply won't allow that.

September 11th, 2001, along with hurricane Katrina has forced emergency services to look at working for the bigger picture. As a result, our incident command structures have been reinforced nationwide to meld together in the case of an event larger than we are. When that happens, each of us in charge must be able to walk into the command post and look the other commanding officers in the eye with trust and respect. If that is not the case, the overall outcome of the incident will suffer for it, as will those affected by that incident.

At issue for Salem fire department is simply this: the fact that our budget will be impacted anywhere from 20% to 25%. We will likely have to change some of the methods or terms we would normally use for purchasing equipment, and much belt-tightening will be required. Utilities and insurance cost the same, protective equipment costs the same (around $3,000 per person), fire trucks cost the same ($200,000 and up), and the price of diesel fuel is still going up. We will have to figure out where to lose that 20% to 25%. Pay cuts or layoffs are not an option when you don't get paid.

The fire department issue for the community, however, is one of emotion. The community is proud of our fire department and has supported it strongly over the years, with both our hard work and our wallets. We feel we own it, it is ours, and we don't want to loose it. But I can tell you, if the annexation succeeds, when you call 911, Benton fire department will give you the emergency care you deserve.

Mike Moravec"