Board hears estimates of wildfire deployment revenue and asset-ownership approach under the EMS plan

Luke Schmidt told the board that deployment revenue can help offset costs and said his department's accounting shows a two‑week deployment can generate roughly "$30 to 35,000" in profit after costs. He explained the model where Hiram would own ambulances under its license and participating cities that staff the runs would receive billing revenue and reimburse the owning agency for wages and costs.

Board members probed whether deployment income is sufficient to sustain capital replacement and asked how backfills would be handled when full‑time staff deploy. Schmidt and other presenters said deployments can help with revenue but warned that staffing costs (including backfill) and heavier apparatus require careful calculation: "If you have full time personnel and you send a full time personnel out the door, you have to backfill their position," a presenter said, noting that backfill raises the per‑deployment hourly cost.