Following a meeting on Tuesday, it now appears that Newton County will finally have dedicated ambulance service. A deal was reached with Allegiance EMS and is expected to be signed today.
Under the plan the Newton County Emergency Services District will pay Allegiance EMS $650,000 to have two ambulances on stand by to meet the needs 24 hours a day.
While some say that two ambulances for the whole county is not enough, all agree that it is a start in better serving the people of Newton County who have only been served by the first responders of the various volunteer fire departments in the county.
The project is the brainchild and the longtime goal of Burkeville Fire Chief Charles Duckworth who has fought to bring the service to reality.
Word is that Emergency Services District #3 at Kirbyville was just minutes away from signing a similar agreement with Allegiance on Tuesday, until the meeting was interrupted by a representative of Acadian EMS of Lafayette, Louisiana who stated that the district had failed to go through the process of contracting with an ambulance service legally.
It now appears that the district will go out for bids or proposals again and start over in the process of bringing a dedicated EMS provider to the district, which is the only one in the county not served by an ambulance.
Still unknown is whether or not the City of Kirbyville will participate in the program. The mayor, Frank George has expressed concerns about the city's tight budget and suggested that Jasper County consider creating a county-wide emergency services district. "My position is until the county does something, I don't feel like we should have to do anything," Mayor Frank George said.
The City of Kirbyville, like the City of Jasper, is not part of the surrounding Emergency Services District.
https://www.kjas.com/news/local_news/article_74e7b942-9dc8-4df5-8f54-a5cbcf33b942.html