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Tensions were high Wednesday during a special Twin Lakes City Council meeting as residents heard arguments on whether to keep the city’s volunteer fire department active or to contract out with a neighboring city for fire service.

Pat Neilon, who said he has lived in Twin Lakes for 46 years and previously served on the volunteer department for 33 years, said the annual city budget for the fire department is $8,000, compared to an estimated $3,500 it would cost to contract out for the service.

He went through a series of other costs, including costs to replace turnout gear at $2,500 to $3,000 per set — which need to be replaced every 10 years — and costs for air packs, which could cost as much as $7,000 each.

He said the city’s pumper truck is 38 years old and noted that neighboring Emmons recently replaced its pumper for $400,000.

Options to consider include having the Albert Lea Fire Department provide fire service, contracting with the Emmons department, which has provided fire protection since the beginning of the year or to go with the newly formed, and what he described as inexperienced, department in Twin Lakes. He noted the department only handles calls within the city of Twin Lakes and only has had a handful of calls this year.

While Neilon recognized there were five new recruits for the department, who have gone through needed training, he said the city could potentially save a lot of money by contracting out the service.

“My feeling is since Emmons is already providing the medical, why not have them do the fire protection also because their response time is pretty darn good,” he said.

Janel Heideman, who was born and raised right outside of Twin Lakes, and who is now on the Twin Lakes Fire Department, explained why she thought shutting down the city’s fire department could be “a horrible and potentially tragic idea.”

Heideman, who has worked as a paid-on call firefighter for three years for the city of Albert Lea, said fires double in size every 60 seconds. The Twin Lakes department has nine members within one mile, compared to the previous department, which only had one.

She said even Albert Lea’s full-time fire department is not “standing around, cooking, cleaning or doing their daily duties or sleeping in their gear with air tanks strapped to their backs.”

“Not even Hollywood supports this,” she said.

In talking with her own insurance company, Heideman said if the city gets rid of the department, homeowners can expect their costs for homeowners insurance to go up $1,000 per year, and the ISO rating would go from a 6 to a 10.

She said the department has five new firefighters who recently passed all of their certification tests to become firefighters, and in addition to these members there were four others certified and one licensed, who have had previous experience in other departments, many in Albert Lea. Five others are support staff, for a total of 15 in the department. State law requires volunteer firefighters be allowed to leave their jobs to respond to a fire.

Regarding responding to medicals, she said the department would not be the primary responders but noted that many on the department would like to receive further training as emergency medical responders.

She alleged that former department heads concocted an idea to walk away from the department with little notice and misled other volunteers that they could get their full pension immediately and then they could divide up the rest of the pension fund. She said an investigation is ongoing, including with the state auditor.

Heieman said in addition to fire protection, the department would seek for fire prevention efforts as well.

Thus far this year, they have fundraised $13,000, and she said she is confident they could raise $20,000 a year. She said she had also talked with some establishments on utilizing some of their gambling funds.

She noted the city’s truck has also passed inspections and noted the newly certified firefighters qualify to get their new gear from the state.

“It’s not often that you get a chance to influence a community decision that could result in the decision between life and death,” Heideman said, asking people to send a strong message that they want the local department to stay.

“We think every life matters,” she said. “We know that every second counts in an emergency.”

Residents next should expect to receive a survey in the mail within three to seven days, and all adults in the city are asked to fill one out and return it. Surveys must be postmarked by Nov. 20. Surveys will have a number assigned to them, and people should not include names or addresses when mailing back.

If an adult does not receive a survey, they should contact the Twin Lakes city clerk at City Hall at 852-2155.

A special committee, made up of the city clerk and a designated representative from both sides, will open the envelopes and count the surveys. The results will be presented at the December council meeting and in the city’s newsletter.