04/28/2026
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From the Desk Fire Chief Sickels:
Hello Citizens of West Liberty and surrounding communities! I am posting this message on social media to share with you all the news of a great misfortune regarding one of our ambulances. Our trusty A-747, which has served this community well for almost 15 years, has decided to take itself out of service for good. The motor is irreparable, and we are now facing a serious safety crisis with only one ambulance in service. There are several reasons I’m letting the community know of this situation:
First and foremost – The loss of a 2nd ambulance in service means we do not have the resources to respond to a secondary call when they come in. This year alone we have had more dual calls, requiring two ambulances to be out at the same time (whether it be on the same call or on separate calls), than any year before. In the last week alone, we have had 3 instances where two ambulances were needed to respond to calls. With only one ambulance available, we have had to request ambulances from other services respond, which increases the response time to get emergency care to you. As we all know, seconds can count in receiving emergency care, and we want our community to be aware of this safety concern. While we currently have an ambulance on order, the delivery date for this vehicle is still over a year out from completion, and even if a request could be made to expedite production, we would still be without a second ambulance for 8-12 months.
Second – While the State of Iowa did pass legislation to make EMS an essential service, there is currently NO FUNDING for it. The state left it to each individual county to figure out how to provide funding, and Muscatine County has not adopted a plan for this yet. Therefore, all funds to support ambulance services comes from revenue in billings (which covers only about 50% of the total costs associated with EMS operations) and donations from all of you! The City of West Liberty does not supply funding for EMS operations beyond $20,000/yr allocated from property tax revenues (as part of fire protection service), nor do they have an equipment fund that they are willing to designate toward supporting the purchase of a replacement ambulance.
Which leads me to my third reason – A humble request / call to action for community members to help us with the purchase of a used ambulance to get us by in the interim!! The cost of a used ambulance is approximately $40-60K and while buying used always comes with some inherent risks, we feel this is the best solution to get us one as quickly as possible, as cheaply as possible. Good units sell fast when they come on market, so we need to be able to react quickly when one of interest becomes available. Your donation would be tax deductible, and allows us the ability to respond to our community’s needs!
For more information or to contact us please call the West Liberty & Rural Townships Fire - EMS Station at 319.627.2303
