80% vote to approve budget override for rural Lancaster County fire district

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Voters will let the Firth Rural Fire Protection District increase its budget by $60,000.

Lancaster County Election Commissioner Todd Wiltgen announced the results of the special budget override election on Tuesday night.

Eighty percent of the 494 participating voters approved the override.

Eric Johnson, the district’s board president, told Channel 8 in July that it needs the money to update firefighters’ equipment.

“We need to catch up,” he said. “We may not use them as much as a paid department, but as a volunteer, I want to know that the gear – when I go into a house that’s on fire – that it’s going to protect me.”