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Volunteer Fire
Departments… corrections and verifications
By Bob Robinson
Last week I posted an opinion from a reader on the City of Greenville /
Greenville Fire Department issue. Due to the individual’s name
recognition in the community, he requested I not use it. I checked a
couple of the items he sent; was satisfied; and published.
Big mistake.
It seems there were errors. They were quickly pointed out to me. I made
the decision to publish the opinion… my responsibility. I accept it.
Since then, the individual has addressed his errors with specifics.
Rather than go with his comments “as is,” I checked each one and posted
my notes and/or web links so that the reader can see for him or herself.
Bob Rhoades’ has pointed out that losing paid personnel could have an
impact on insurance rates (disputed verbally by the writer) and that
some volunteer departments were established long in the past and, as
such, have continued due to tradition. He also has noted that
Greenville used to have a volunteer staff in addition to its full time
staff.
I know little to nothing about this; consequently I’m presenting it
only as what has been told to me or published.
Also, County News Online had information sent from other individuals
and has posted a couple of letters to the editor. There was a point in
one of those letters that I think needs to be reiterated.
Greenville passed an income tax increase several years ago with the
primary concern being fire safety. While I don’t remember if it was 1/2
or 1/4 percent, I remember the campaign well. I was editor of The
Advocate and did considerable research in an attempt to satisfy myself
that an increase was really needed (over the obvious alternative of
cutting expenses). I ended up with more questions than answers.
The writer’s point? Since the income tax increase was to keep our full
time fire professionals, will the tax be rescinded if they have to be
laid off?
Not likely.
I understand the complexities of budgets and the necessity of balancing
them. I do it at home and I’ve done it often in the private sector… I
have absolutely no desire to go down the public sector road again.
Sure wish the feds understood it, though.
At any rate, here is the CNO reader’s latest letter.
Dear Mr. Robinson,
It has come to my attention that the e-mail I sent you several days ago
had some false information. I am told that the stations I
mentioned were not volunteer. So wanting to be accurate, I
checked the websites of each department I mentioned and this is what I
found:
Pasadena, Texas - from the first line on their website - PVFD IS THE
LARGEST SINGLE MUNICIPALITY, ALL VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT. IN THE UNITED
STATES
http://pasadenavfd.com/about.html
Bowie, Maryland - from the website, the heading - WELCOME TO THE BOWIE
VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT.
http://bowiefire.org/
Deer Park, Texas - the first line of their website - THE DEER PARK
VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT. SERVES AN AREA OF APPROXIMATELY 17 SQUARE MILES IN
SOUTHEAST HARRIS COUNTY.
http://www.deerparktx.gov/department/index.php?fDD=21-0
Kearney, Nebraska - the first line of their website - THE KEARNEY
VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT. SERVES THE CITY OF KEARNEY, AS WELL AS THE
SUBURBAN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT #1 OF BUFFALO AND KEARNEY COUNTIES.
Editor: “Ten
Firefighter/Operators, Fire Administrator, Administrative Assistant and
part-time Secretary make up our small full time staff.”
http://www.kvfd.webs.com/
Pierre, South Dakota- the first line of their website - THE PIERRE FIRE
DEPT. IS A VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT. LOCATED IN PIERRE, THE CAPITOL OF
SOUTH DAKOTA.
Editor: “The department
is led by a full-time fire chief, a volunteer deputy chief, and two
volunteer assistant chiefs, all of which are elected annually from the
department at large.”
http://ci.pierre.sd.us/Department.aspx?id=8
Rockville, Maryland - the header on their website- ROCKVILLE VOLUNTEER
FIRE DEPT. AND THE FIRST LINE SAYS VOLUNTEER TODAY!
Editor: No mention that I
could find of any paid staff.
http://www.rvfd.org/about/
Dale City, Virginia - the home page of their website - DALE CITY
VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT. - SECOND TO NONE SINCE 1967
http://www.dcvfd.org/#!OUR STORY|csgz
Alexandria, Virginia - here is a partial screw-up on my part -
ALEXANDRIA HAS A FULL TIME PLUS A VOLUNTEER SERVICE THAT HAS SERVED THE
CITY FOR 200 YEARS. My bad.
http://www.firehouse.com/group/10583606/alexandria-volunteer-fire-department-inc
And Meridian, Idaho - from their website - THE MERIDIAN RURAL VOLUNTEER
DEPT. SERVES ADA COUNTY. THE WEBSITE SAYS THEY HAVE A VOLUNTEER
RECRUITER AND ARE ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS. This was my error for
not clearly stating that this was a rural dept. located in Meridian.
Editor: I couldn’t find
this link.
Sorry for the screw up there, don’t know what I did. Anyway as
you can see, the ones I provided all say they are volunteer. If
there is any question, I think all you have to do is Google all the
departments I listed and look for yourself.
I meant this to be informative only, not to cause a problem. By
the way, just for kicks I looked up the largest volunteer fire dept. in
the United States. Any guesses? It is the Middletown
Township New Jersey department with 11 companies, its own fire academy
and 500 volunteers!! Now that’s a big Department! If anyone wants
to see how many cities are volunteer, just Google “largest cities with
Volunteer fire departments.”
I know there are at least 10 pages worth. I hope this clears up
any problem I may have caused, especially for you Bob; you did check
some of the ones I gave you and thought I was right. It wasn’t
your fault; I just didn’t read two of them carefully enough.
A loyal CNO reader
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