As of May 27, 2008, the Eclectic Fire Department has now become a combination department. Because of the ever growing need for an advanced life support ambulance and an increase in fire calls, the Town of Eclectic Council and Mayor approved the hire of another full-time employee. Andrew McCullers was picked as the new hire. He is a career certified firefighter as well as an EMT-Intermediate. This brings our department to 1 full-time EMT-Paramedic, 1 full-time EMT-Intermediate/Firefighter, 1 part-time EMT-Basic, and 1 part-time EMT-Paramedic/Firefighter. The Eclectic Fire Department has 28 other volunteers, this brings our total roster to 32 people willing to take fire and EMS calls for the citizens of the Eclectic Fire Department's fire district. Of the 32 members there are 20 certified firefighters, 4 of these hold career firefighter certification and 16 with Volunteer Firefighter. We have 4 EMT-Paramedics, 2 of which have Critical Care Paramedic, 2 EMT-Intermediates, 5 EMT-Basics with 2 other members currently in EMT-Basic School, and 11 EVOC trained drivers. The Eclectic Fire Department also has several Instructor I and II's, Haz-Mat Technicians, Inspector I's, Investigator I's, Vehicle Extrication Technicians and Technical Rescue Technicians. The Eclectic Fire Department covers 52 square miles with 2 fire stations. Station 2 is currently staffed with only a brush truck. Also in May 2008 the Town Council approved $522,000 to purchase a new KME custom cab engine and a KME mini-pumper. Delivery on these 2 apparatus is scheduled for January 2009. Upon receipt of the new apparatus, Engine 801 and Tanker 811 will be stationed at Station 2 for better coverage of our fire district.

It takes a great deal of hard work and dedication for someone to volunteer there time to help citizens of their community, not to mention the amount of money it takes to equip each member. Equipment cost is a heavy burden for a small municipal department to bare. Over the past few years the Eclectic Fire Department has received several grants to help with this cost. Let me break it down for you: Fire pants $300, Fire coat $400, Fire boots $150, Fire Helmet $200, Fire gloves $30, Nomex hood $30. That's $1110 just to protect a firefighter, not to mention the self contained breathing apparatus that cost $4,000-$7,000. In 2004 we received a grant for our gear which got most of the department out of 10-15 year old gear. In the same year, we also received a grant for a cascade system. In 2006 we received a grant for a tanker truck (812) to replace a 30 year old truck. And in 2007 we received a grant for all of our members to be fully equipped with wild land fire gear. We chose this for 2 reasons. 1. Grass/Woods fires make up the majority of our fire calls and 2. Our structural gear was beginning to break down from wear and tear on woods fires. We also were able to purchase 10 new sets of structural gear through this grant. The grants received add up to nearly $200,000 dollars. Without these grants we would not be as capable to fight fire as we are today. The Eclectic Fire Department receives less than $20,000 per year from the Town of Eclectic. We get our money from the Elmore County Fee Bill. For every residence in our fire district we receive $50 and for every business we receive $100. This adds up to around $75,000 per year we receive from the fee bill. From this money we pay for the new apparatus mentioned earlier, all of the regular bills (water, Cable, Phone, Power, and Gas), fuel for the apparatus, tools and equipment, and unforeseen items( breakdowns). Unfortunately we cannot pay salaries from this money; it is only for items necessary to operate the department.