Halfway through 8-year plan, county fire service taking strides to the future
During a still morning in Ware Shoals, firefighters Russell Cline and Blake Schultz were testing air packs, fans and other rescue gear ahead of their move to a $1 million facility much closer to the busy U.S. Route 25 corridor.
It’s one of many transitions Greenwood County’s nearly all-volunteer based fire service has experienced over its four decades. Now, halfway through an ambitious eight-year master plan, those closest to the ground say the system remains vital as ever — but challenges continue as officials look for areas of improvement for a district that serves 46,661 residents across 463 square miles, with 17,500 structures.
On a broad level, Greenwood County’s 12-district coverage area and stable of more than 200 volunteer firefighters are part of the American story.
“It’s a great fire service. We’ve got a fantastic group of volunteers that dedicate their time and talent,” said Derek Kinney, the county’s EMS director.
The National Fire Protection Association estimates that of the 1.16 million firefighters deployed across the country, 70 percent them were volunteers — or 814,850.
Greenwood County Fire Coordinator Steve Holmes, who started his career with the Northwest Volunteer Fire Department in 1979, at just 16, said when crews show up at a scene, issues of territory never emerge.
“While they all still have their home station and identity, they are proud being members of the Greenwood County fire service. I may have a firefighter from Station 30 driving an engine from Station 20, or a member from Ware Shoals responding to a scene in Coronaca,” Holmes said. “I know first-hand how much the level of cooperation has changed over 40 years, and I’m very proud of how hard they have all worked to make this system a true, countywide system.”
Still, manpower is always a problem, but officials have agreed to a short-term solution. The county will soon bring on seven full-time firefighters, assuring around-the-clock response anywhere in vast district.
Right now, 25 part-time members work 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, staffing three engines with two firefighters each. That’s halved response times from the 24-minute average when relying solely on volunteers, Holmes said.
“The most pressing need is the continued efforts to find people in the community that feel they have need to serve others as a volunteer. Finding people willing to invest the time needed to become a firefighter/emergency medical responder is a tough undertaking,” Holmes said. “Recruitment and retention of volunteers is vital for us to provide adequate protection to our community.”
The average age of a county volunteer firefighter is 40.7.
“The end result is we’d have four crews working 12-hour days to offset the men and women who volunteer their time. That’s a huge addition,” Kinney said. The paid staff will be stationed along Highway 246, near the county’s largest manufacturing industries.
County fire officials were successful in securing $14.2 million through the 2016 capital project sales tax initiative to implement the master plan — which includes construction of six stations by 2022 at a cost of $3.6 million and $7.4 million worth of renovations to existing ones.
Key to the plan was also a 6-1 vote by the County Council in September agreeing to borrow more than $6 million for the purchase of 16 vehicles — with money generated from the tax paying it back by April 2022.
Holmes said 11 of the 16 vehicles will replace ones that average 29 years old and have a history of breaking down, creating safety concerns and swelling maintenance budgets.
Even with the new trucks in service, the county will have 22 vehicles with an average age of 18 years old.
Council chairman Steve Brown at the time rejected the spending request, pointing to its lack of inclusion in the overall fire plan proposal.
“I’m not against fire service, but I have a real problem of going outside what we put to the voters. We didn’t go to them and tell them we were going to float $6 million worth of debt and buy 16 trucks at one time,” he said. “I never heard the need for 15 or 16 fire trucks when we were going through the process of setting up the referendum, and that would have been the time to bring it up.”
For veterans of the county’s public safety sector, one question always comes up as talks of a stronger fire service emerge: Will there ever be a unified department that includes the city?
“They’re going to do what they need to do to protect their citizens, we’re going to do what we need to do, and it is going to require more people. I think any county would be remiss if they at least, at a minimum, didn’t ask the question,” Kinney said. “It may work, it may not work. I’ve learned in this job that any time you have a good idea, there’s always some kind of rule or regulation against it. There’s a lot of variables. It’s a conversation that may come up, but that’s years away.”
Kinney said elements of the plan need to be achieved before any consideration is given to a merger with the city.
“The public expects the fire department to respond in a timely manner, and with the resources needed to handle whatever situation arises. As we explained in the Funding section, the current fire fee structure makes this an unobtainable goal to achieve. We should educate the public on what we are tasked with and the cost associated with providing these services. Representatives of the fire service will develop a presentation explaining our service to be presented to civic organizations, senior groups, neighborhood watch teams, and church groups,” the plan says. “We have left the public completely unaware of the present state of our departments. By continuing to provide a service with aging equipment and dwindling manpower, our department infrastructure will continue to deteriorate.”
It’s difficult for Kinney to talk about fire response broken down by jurisdiction.
“I’ve been with the county for 33 years, and I’ve never had a line, working on EMS. There wasn’t a city, there wasn’t a county. I never thought, ‘Well, that ain’t mine.’ Lines make no sense to me,” he said. “I don’t have lines, and I’m not going to operate with lines. It’s a need.”
County Manager Toby Chappell said Kinney’s take on a possible alignment with the city accurate.
“The city has a first-rate fire department that has been built over many decades of work. With the growth, especially in terms of industry, and declining volunteerism, the county has to be willing to look at all possible options to keep our residents and businesses safe,” he said. “While we have a duty to explore all reasonable options we must continue to acknowledge the critical role that our volunteers have played and will play in the future of public safety in Greenwood County.”
Short of working under the same roof, Holmes said several other concepts could be explored to bring the city and county’s fire programs closer, such as mutual code enforcement and common training regimens.
“We both are already working with EMS, because medical responses are driving the cost of emergency services through the roof,” Holmes said. For instance, both the Northwest and Coronaca districts respond to about 1,000 calls annually, and 60 percent are for medical events.
“You’ll have to find the right blend that works for everyone. Our primary job is fire suppression, but when someone is having a life-threatening medical event, they need help quickly, and we supply what when we can,” Holmes said.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Mar 10, 2019
By ADAM BENSON abenson@indexjournal.com