ST. HELENA PARISH - On Tuesday, signs went up at all three St. Helena Parish Fire District Four stations, letting people know the department was no longer taking calls for service. Fire officials said the department actually stopped taking calls on Oct. 23 when the insurance policy ran out.

“Seeing these signs, it makes me sick to my stomach. Not being able to… hearing the tone go off and hearing them having to page another district… is nauseating,” St. Helena Fire District Four Chief Bradley Graves said.

Graves said he was a part of building the fire district up more than 20 years ago, adding the department started taking calls in 2001.

"It was like 34 calls a year," Graves said.

That number has increased dramatically, with District Four now responding to between 1300 and 1400 calls for service each year. Graves said District Four is the only department in the parish to have paid professional firefighters as well as medics and EMTs. He said District Four had a deal with the parish to provide rescue and EMS services to the entire parish.

“We have six fire trucks, we have two tanker service trucks, we have four rescues,” Graves said.

Graves said District Four's budget has largely remained the same over the years, but in April, the district learned their insurance was to increase.

“Insurance rates doubled two years ago, and then this year, they doubled again, they went from $28,000 to $58,000 to $102,000,” he said.

Graves said he took his concerns to the St. Helena Police Jury immediately.

“This conversation started in April and it’s been going on until now,” Graves said. “We’re trying to work on a couple grants through the parish and we’re working through OEP on a couple grants, but we haven’t gotten the final word and that’s kind of the hold up.”

Graves said he need around $30,000 to make it to the end of the year, and would be able to pay the money back in February. With no funds, Graves has had to get rid of employees and District Four cannot operate without insuring their equipment and vehicles.

“The big ticket item in the insurance package that we had was the vehicle insurance and it was a 600-percent odd increase,” Graves said. “When you’re dealing with a 300-thousand dollar truck, the liability insurance on a 300-thousand dollar truck, you can only imagine. When you have half a dozen of those, it’s pretty significant.”

For residents, the consequences are more than just longer call response times. They could see an increase in the cost of homeowner's insurance if District Four shuts down indefinitely.

Some of Graves' nightmares are coming true. Earlier this month, there was a fire less than seven minutes from his station in another district. Without coverage, Graves could not take a firetruck out to help.

“I was literally standing next to a running fire truck. Had to kill it. Roll the doors down, turn the lights off, get in the Tahoe and go and then sit for five minutes before one of their trucks showed up. I’m still having nightmares,” Graves said.

Officials from St. Helena Parish Police Jury have not responded to requests for comment.

Other fire districts in the parish have also made posts about District Four's situation. In a Facebook post, Hillsdale Volunteer Fire Department/St. Helena Fire District 5 wrote in part:

"Good afternoon residents of Hillsdale Fire Dept. St Helena dist 5. As many of you may have heard that Dist 4 is not running any calls at this time due to lack of insurance coverage. I want our residents to know we are fully covered and responding to calls in our dist. We will also be helping if there is a fire in dist 4 area if we can and or have personnel available. Remember we are all volunteers and work full time jobs in this dept. Stay safe."