Dean Rea/The Herald The planned burning of this downtown Lowell residence has been postponed until October because of extreme fire danger in the area.
By DEAN REA/Correspondent/The Herald — The COVID-19 mandate affecting health care workers was endorsed without comment Wednesday night by the Lowell Rural Fire Protection board of directors.
Chief Lon Dragt said he doesn’t expect to lose any of the 21 members of his department because of the state mandate but feels “it eventually will be ruled out.”
Directors endorsed requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a signed waiver based on medical or religious reasons effective Oct. 18.
Dean Rea/The Herald Lowell Fire Chief Lon Dragt
Failure to comply with the requirement would “drastically affect the department,” Dragt said because members provide health care services.
Dragt acknowledged that “there’s too much politics” involved in determining how individuals respond to vaccine and masking requirements. However, he recommended that the board accept the exemptions so that “we don’t have to fire anyone.”
Firefighters work unmasked at the station but don masks when responding to a fire or health-related emergency, Dragt said during an interview.
The chief told board members that the forest fire threat has lessened in the district, which serves a 23-square-mile area that includes the city of Lowell and communities of Fall Creek and Unity. It also surrounds Fall Creek Reservoir and includes the northern shoreline of Dexter Reservoir.
Meanwhile, the planned burning of residential buildings in Lowell and Dexter has been postponed because of the fire danger in the area.
Asbestos has been removed from the city-owned house at 205 E. Main St. Several departments are expected to participate during a training burn in October, Dragt said. The city acquired the three-bedroom house built in 1940 and later decided to clear the lot for commercial development.
