Mexia Fire Department, EMS a versatile crew
When a fire or emergency occurs in Mexia, the residents are in a better position than many other small towns because it maintains a paid Fire Department staff rather than relying on a volunteer force.
Mike Clements, the Mexia Fire Department’s training officer, noted that when he spoke to the Mexia Lions Club recently.
“We’re unique because very few cities with a population of 10,000 or less have a full-time paid fire department – almost none,” he said. “There are a lot of cities twice the size of ours that our still doing all-volunteer fire departments.”
Across the United States, there are about five volunteers for every paid firefighter, he said. The paid firefighters have a lot of respect for the volunteers, because the volunteers work for no pay, often for years.
“They do it to protect because they care, and they do it for nothing,” Clements said. Like many firefighters, he began as a volunteer.
Mexia averages about six calls a day, he told the audience, but on a busy day, the number can run to 14 or 15 . There are six personnel on shift at all times, some firefighters and some EMTs.
“They do everything that needs to be done, whether it’s to rescue somebody, put out a fire, do a dumpster fire or a grass fire, work an accident or a cardiac arrest,” Clements said. “Whatever it is, that’s their assignment; they do that. They stay busy, and their day is never the same. We like that.”
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