Helmet Peak firefighters need a hand

What if you had a house fire and nobody came? Without volunteer firefighters this would be the case in many communities. With an unfunded volunteer fire department, you’d be liable for the cost of putting out your fire; that could be up to $20,000 on top of the losses of your household goods. What if each gallon of water to fight your fire had to be hauled to your site because there are no fire hydrants, no water supply? This isn’t fiction; it’s life right here in the hamlet next to Green Valley — Helmet Peak.

Each Wednesday, Helmet Peak Firefighters report to the Green Valley Farmer’s Market, selling their spicy barbeque sauce, gift cards to Papa Murphy’s Pizza and soliciting donations outright. The two regulars are Wally Karnas and Les Johnson. Each has held most of the positions in the Helmet Peak Fire Department since its inception in 1991.

This all-volunteer department services an area of about 30 square miles encompassing about 650 homes for fire and emergency medical help through 9-1-1.

“Medical emergencies are about 95 percent of our calls. We have roughly 30 volunteer firefighters now,” Johnson said.

“They just drop everything at work and head out to help if there is a call. We’re really proud of them,” Karnas said.

He makes a point, “We are out in the boondocks!”

Although other departments will give assistance when called, Helmet Peak is indeed the force that matters when time is of the essence.

“Most of the homes in Helmet Peak are mobile homes; an older mobile home is a flash point for fires,” Karnas said. Couple that with the fact that most residents have propane tanks, ammunition or both in their homes, firefighting is dangerous.

“Just under 190 residents are able to pay an annual subscription fee of $125 to help fund the department and to avoid the liability of the cost of putting out a fire,” Johnson said. The firefighters estimate 85 to 90 percent of Helmet Peak’s families live below the poverty level. For them, the subscription is a real hardship most cannot afford. In addition to being low income, Helmet Peak residents have no water supply and pay $1.25 per gallon to have water delivered — all their water.

The department is funded entirely by resident’s subscriptions and donations (including one from the White Elephant). There is no government aid.

With equipment and supplies heading up their list of expenditures, firefighters have taken several years to partially construct a station as materials become available.

“We’d appreciate just about any building supplies,” Johnson said.

If you have something they could use please call him at 625-9087. If you’d like to donate, there’s no better way than to serve these emergency needs of our next door neighbors. After all, if you have an accident on Mission Road, they may first on the scene to help you, so think about placing a few big bills in those fire boots.

If you go

Green Valley Farmer’s Market runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Wednesday at the Green Valley Village, Esperanza Boulevard and La Canada Drive. Read about it online at: www.greenvalleyfarmersmarket.org. This is the last in a series of articles from the Green Valley Farmer’s Market, which continues year-round.