Officials with the Pea Ridge Ambulance Department are not waiting to hear if they've been approved for a second attempt for the federal SAFER grant to fund paramedics full-time. The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant helps small departments transition to a combination department. Former Fire Chief Jack Wassman began working on the application in 2019 and presented the request to the mayor and City Council in June 2020. Council members approved his applying for it in August 2020. Pea Ridge did not receive the grant that year. Then Wassman applied again. This past week, the mayor authorized interim Fire Chief Jared Powell to hire three full-time paramedics, taking one more step in making the volunteer Fire-EMS Department a combination department. "We hope to have them on staff Aug. 1," Powell said.