Greenwood County officials say countywide fire plan would revolutionize services
Last month, Greenwood County Fire Coordinator Steve Holmes pulled a pumper truck stationed at the Hodges-Cokesbury fire station off the road because of safety concerns.
“It was a year younger than I am,” the 53-year-old Holmes said to an Index-Journal reporter. That was on the way back from a tour of the Lower Lake Volunteer Fire Department substation off Highway 702 in Ninety Six, where wooden rafters were cracked or broken, and sunlight punched through holes in the membrane roof.
As the countywide fire service nears its 40th birthday, signs of age are everywhere. Twenty vehicles in the fleet of 52 are at or nearing retirement status — or nearly 40 percent. Just a third of its 12 stations are code compliant. Rust eats away at nearly everything.
“I hate to use the word desperate, but desperate is getting to be a fair word,” Holmes said.
An April 2015 master plan laid out how dire the situation is.
“The remaining 8 stations are 30-year-old buildings in need of major repair, renovation or replacement. Building codes are updated every 3 years, so most of these stations were built using codes that have since gone through 10 revisions. This does not make them non-compliant, as the code in force at the time of construction was the standard,” the plan says. “However, through the years, volunteers have made repairs, renovations and additions to the stations. In most cases, the work performed was not by a licensed contractor, nor inspected by code officials. This was done with good intentions in an effort to save money; but in most cases this has caused situations that need to be corrected.”
In November, county fire officials hope an answer will finally come, in the form of a $14.2 million financing plan included as part of the capital projects sales tax initiative.
If approved, the proposal would add 1 percent to the local sales tax for up to eight years to cover capital improvement ventures in Greenwood, Hodges, Ninety Six, Troy and Ware Shoals.
Greenwood County would gain six substations that would allow up to 1,800 homes to be covered for fire protection through insurance policies, land to build a regional public safety training center and enough money to modernize existing buildings and purchase new vehicles.
Paul Bagnoli, a member of the Lower Lake Volunteer Fire Department and chairman of Capital Projects Sales Tax Commission’s public safety committee, said it’s the most comprehensive proposal in the fire service’s 35-year history. Public meetings will begin Aug. 2 and rotate among the county’s fire departments through Oct. 25.
“It touches the needs that really need to be addressed, and it touches them completely,” he said. “Every station is involved in this plan.”
The county’s fire district serves a population of 46,621, covers 463 square miles (including seven miles of lake) and contains 17,500 structures. In 2014, county fire crews responded to 2,044 calls, compared to 1,120 by the city’s paid department, according to the master plan.
With a such a wide swath, gaps exist. Officials plan to use $4 million to build six substations that would put almost 1,800 homes within five miles of a station — making them eligible for fire protection on their homeowner’s insurance.
Bagnoli said the move is expected to save about $350,000 annually for those property owners, and put $1.8 million back into the local economy while reducing response times.
Another $7.4 million is earmarked for the renovation of existing stations and upgrading apparatus between 2017 and 2023.
“We have buildings that are 30-plus years old that literally have had no renovations done to them,” Holmes said. “Roofs need to be replaced, outside metal skins need to replaced, HVAC systems across the board need to be replaced.”
It’s an ambitious concept: Between 2017 and 2023, the county would purchase a new tanker, five new engines, three mini pumpers, a new ladder track — known as aerials in the industry — two rescue boats and two administrative vehicles.
A second aerial and a tanker would be refurbished. Currently, Northwest has a 75-foot ladder truck since that station covers much of Bypass 72 and Greenwood’s commercial corridor, while Coronaca, which is in the county’s industrial hub, has a 112-foot truck that was built in 1989.
Holmes said the county plans to purchase a new aerial for Coronaca, and station its older one in Ware Shoals.
“You go down to Callison or Lower Lake or Epworth, they’ve never seen a fire hydrant, so their attack of a fire is done very differently, and so the equipment has to be tailored to meet that particular need,” Bagnoli said. “I believe the first responsibility of government is public safety, and the purchases that are being recommended here are not ‘nice to haves’ or ‘wants,’ these are needs.”
Then, between 2017 and 2020, 10 existing stations would be upgraded.
Finally, there’s training — something that can’t be done locally or collaboratively given existing circumstances.
So officials want to spend $3.6 million for the construction of a regional public safety training center somewhere within the county on between 8 and 20 acres.
Because fire, police and medical response personnel often respond to calls together, training as a group is vital, Bagnoli said. Right now, the closest facilities are in Anderson or Columbia.
“It’s very difficult to put in place a rigorous training protocol,” Bagnoli said.
Additionally, officials think extra revenue could be brought in through rental fees to agencies in surrounding counties.
At a breakfast meeting earlier this month, Greenwood Police Chief Gerald Brooks spoke of the need for such a facility, which would include a four-story training tower with attached burn room, driver training areas, shooting ranges and classrooms.
“The environment that we live in, there is often a multi-agency response,” Brooks said. “And we have no way of training together.”
Holmes thinks the plan will revolutionize the county’s fire services.
“This would be the single biggest improvement in the county fire system since it originated,” he said.
Contact reporter Adam Benson at 864-943-5640 or on Twitter @ABensonIJ.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Jul 31, 2016
By ADAM BENSON abenson@indexjournal.com
Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/greenwood-county-officials-say-countywide-fire-plan-would-revolutionize-services/article_edffa2f7-5435-5409-b990-614d4c4f3f25.html