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The Morse-Fall Lake Fire Department will soon be doing training for its own members and for area departments as well.
Anna Krueger pitched the training program to the joint powers board on Wednesday night.
She explained the department now has five members who have been certified to teach firefighter training classes.
Currently, the department hires a training company to come in and then submits the bill to the state for reimbursement. Krueger said Morse-Fall Lake could bill the state for the training and keep the funds.
There would be an initial set-up cost of $14,000 which can be submitted to the state for reimbursement.
The board questioned whether the department could handle the additional responsibilities.
Krueger, Tyler Kuiken and Mike Harri each said they would need to schedule the classes outside of the summer months but believed along with Ted Krueger and Amy Consoer the five of them could handle teaching the classes.
The board also discussed the fire department’s retirement fund which is now handled by the state of Minnesota.
Krueger said there is now over $1 million in the account with only a little over $400,000 in accrued liability. She said Morse-Fall Lake has a 265% surplus.
Board member Bob Berrini attributed the increasing fund balance to the high property values in both townships. He explained that monies from insurance policies provide funds that are paid to the retirement funds of the associated fire department.
Krueger said with the account balance now over $1 million, the $66,455 in interest earned last year outpaced the $57,454 in state contributions.
While the money can only be used for retirement payouts to firefighters, the amount paid for each year of service can be increased by the board.
In other business the board:
• Was informed there were 74 fire department runs in 2024 for payable calls.
• Heard a report from Harri, the Morse-Fall Lake coordinator for first responders. Harri said there were 180 calls in 2024 including 96 in Morse, 48 in Fall Lake, 17 in Winton, seven mutual aid calls and 12 in unorganized areas. He also reviewed the types of calls, traumatic injuries being the highest at 37, falls were second at 32, general medical/sick person at 25, cardiac/stroke at 23, transportation accidents at 21, welfare checks at 18, respiratory emergencies at 18, rescues at 13, diabetic emergencies at 11, mental health at 11, BWCA calls at 10 plus a number of others.
