Oct. 26--Fire and rescue services have changed a lot in the past year in Spotsylvania County. But more changes are needed, county leaders said last night.
"The biggest challenge we face is making sure the career and the volunteers work together in harmony," Supervisor Emmitt Marshall said. The county's fire and rescue services are provided by a career staff and three volunteer agencies, working together in a combination system that has at times been fraught with tension.
The Board of Supervisors held a work session with the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Commission. The meeting started with supervisors telling the commission members how vital their work is.
"You certainly have the breadth and depth of skills and knowledge of emergency services," Supervisor Hap Connors said to members of the commission, which includes two county residents and a representative from each of the three volunteer agencies, two hospitals, the career firefighters union and the county fire administration.
Supervisors praised the progress of the emergency services program: creating minimum training standards, collecting training records, giving more authority to the fire chief and creating standard operating procedures.
"This county has come a long way in its fire and EMS services," Chairman Benny Pitts said. "And I expect even greater things to happen. But some changes need to be made."
Supervisors repeatedly expressed commitment to having the entire county covered round-the-clock for emergency services. Now, some stations -- particularly in the rural parts of Spotsylvania -- sit empty on some nights and weekends.
"How do I just say to a taxpayer of this county that because they live in a rural part of the county, they can't have 24/7 coverage?" Pitts asked. "I want 24/7 coverage, and I look to the volunteers to make that happen."
Overall, supervisors said they believe the county is on the right track for better services. But some worried that the volunteer agencies still have a "cowboy" mentality, instead of a team spirit.
And their main criticism came from an act volunteers thought would bring praise.
Two agencies -- Spotsylvania Volunteer Fire Department and Chancellor Volunteer Fire and Rescue -- pay for some firetrucks and ambulances themselves. Spotsylvania Volunteer Fire raises money by selling Christmas trees and through fundraising campaigns. Chancellor uses some of the money from ambulance fees.
The county collects the fees from insurance companies and gives part of the money to the three volunteer agencies. Spotsylvania Volunteer Fire and Spotsylvania Volunteer Rescue Squad use that money to give volunteers a per diem, or money for working a certain number of shifts. That money usually goes for gas and food, said LeRon Lewis, chief of the Spotsylvania Volunteer Rescue Squad.
Chancellor uses the ambulance fees to buy trucks and to pay some training costs, said Rescue Chief Eric Lasky.
"Where funds have not been, we have stepped up to bring the funds," he said.
But Supervisor Gary Jackson said the agencies should not buy trucks.
"So Chancellor is running their own system, deciding where needs aren't being met?" Jackson asked Lasky. "I don't think that's the spirit of the combination system."
Jackson said that Chancellor volunteers like to ride around in trucks with agency's name plastered on the side. But he pointed to the county seal on the wall of the board chambers and said that all volunteers and career should take pride in that logo alone.
Mark Kuechler, president of Spotsylvania Volunteer Fire Department, said that his agency's members thought they were helping the county by raising money for trucks.
"If SVFD wasn't raising money, the Board of Supervisors would have to do that through taxation," he said. "I'd think it would be 'atta boy' rather than a problem."
Both groups agreed there were several issues still to work out -- chiefly, how exactly to provide the 24/7 coverage.
Spotsylvania Fire Chief Chris Eudailey should bring the supervisors an estimate on the costs of round-the-clock coverage sometime in November.
Connors said initial estimates put a full career 24/7 effort at $6 million a year, which makes volunteers vital for purely economic reasons.
Even if the county didn't hire any more firefighters, getting more coverage would cost in fuel, equipment and training.
"I wish we had all the money we needed so every citizen could have a five-minute response time," Jackson said. "It's very difficult to do that. It's going to take some money, and it's not going to come quickly, so we need to be clever."
And that's where the commission could best serve the county, supervisors said. They said the commission members should brainstorm solutions of the best way to deliver emergency services.
Last night's meeting was an important first step in bolstering the county's combination system, Connors said.
"This is indicative of progress we've made," he said. "We've had honest conversation here for the first time in a long time."
Amy Flowers Umble: 540/735-1973
Email: [email protected]
