Knight Township and Evansville Rethinking Fire Protection

After months of contract negotiations it looked like Knight Township and its fire department were never going to to come to an agreement. Tonight the City of Evansville voted to offer its fire services for the next year. But all sides say that probably wont be necessary. No one really knew what to expect coming into tonights city council meeting. But many thought it could be the end to the Knight Township Fire department. Instead - both sides say they fully expect to agree on a contract before the current one expires at the end of the year - and its thanks to the departments newest firehouse. They were first on the scene in the early morning hours of November 6th pulling tornado victims from their destroyed mobile homes. They were there in the following days picking through debris and helping the victims. But even with all that it looked like 25 years of service from the Knight Township volunteer fire department was coming to an end. The fire departments contract ends in a little more than a week. And as of about two days ago - it looked like there was no way the township and the fire department would never come to an agreement. The city of Evansville even offered their services if needed. But on the same day the devestating tornado came back in the form of a saving grace for the department. The F3 torando also destroyed their Pollack Avenue firehouse. Almost two years later they moved into a new home thanks to a half million dollar grant from the state. "If we caesed to exist or didnt provide service according to that grant it would need to be paid back to the state," says Fire Chief Chris Wathen. With the new information the department made a new offer to the township. "Were comitted to getting one year contract for 271 dollars," says Trustee Linda Durham. Theyre ready to put an end the stressful negotiations "On the inside Im jumping up and down like a little girl," says Chief Wathen. And continue their work helping when their township needs it most" Durham says their next scheduled meeting is December 28th. They hope to have everything wrapped up by then. There was a lot of talk about annexation with these contract negotations. Its expected in 2009 the city will annex part of knight township. There was talk that an agreement with the city fire department would make that transition smooth. However at Tonights city council meeting many members made it very clear that there was no ulterier motives with this assistance. The city council says it voted to offer assistance just to help the township.