Jan. 19, 2009

PART ONE OF TWO

Firefighters get by the best way they can

By Roy Mitchell

Small-county fire protection is like the Biblical account of Jesus feeding the five thousand with only five loaves and two fishes. Local volunteer fire departments, like Jesus and the disciples, often defy logic in supplying the fire protection needs of the populace.

It's not that Cherokee County officials don't fund the departments. They do. Through referendum, two mills of county property tax fund the rescue squad and 13 volunteer fire departments. Volunteer fire departments and the VFD Association split one and a half mills of that property tax. According to Centre Fire Department records, last fiscal year the total share for the baker's dozen was $23,720, up from $20,080 in 2006-07.

Firefighting equipment, however, is very expensive. The cost of a new fire truck runs around $250,000, and each new firefighter outfit or “turn-out gear” runs close to $1,500 – and that doesn't include other expenses such as hoses, gasoline, and maintenance. Consequently, the job of volunteer fire department chief involves a plethora of penny-pinching and bargain-hunting by the bunch.

Many local departments apply for federal grants, and occasionally a VFD will actually receive one. But Broomtown Fire Chief David Glenn said getting federal funds is typically a hit-or-miss proposition.

“Odds aren't very good at getting a grant,” he said. “You're competing with all the other fire departments in the state for the money.”

How do the local VFDs manage to turn their proverbial loaves and fishes into adequate fire protection for the county? They do so with firefighter ingenuity and community generosity.

McCord's Crossroads VFD has improvised in protecting the pasture-laden areas of rural, eastern Cherokee County. Their tanker is an old Mayfield Dairy truck.

“It's one of their old 300,000-mile trucks, and we re-did the motor,” said chief Keven Anthony. “Now it holds 1,860 gallons of water.”

Like many local VFD's, McCord's Crossroads has taken advantage of a low-interest loan offered by Cherokee Electric Cooperative. They have received discretionary funds from the County Commission.

Anthony and his volunteers also rely on multiple fundraisers, including a Thanksgiving dinner, a fall festival, and a dove shoot to help pay their bills.

“We very much appreciate the help of our community in supporting our fundraisers,” he said.

Cloudland VFD Chief Sammy Frazier said his department depends on the World Wide Web to supply some of their equipment.

“We do a lot of shopping on the Internet,” Frazier said. “We have bought pagers, helmets, and even some turn-out gear off eBay.”

Protecting the remote northern tip of Cherokee County, Cloudland VFD has also relied on the generosity of other departments.

“When stations take something out of service, like hoses, they let us borrow their stuff,” said former chief David Luther.

Tucker's Chapel Chief Ray Hufstetler, said he sometimes relies on Internet bargains, too.

“We have people that go online pretty often to check out deals,” he said. “About two years ago, we had to have another pumper. We found a good deal on one from South Carolina. It really met our needs.”

Mount Weisner VFD Chief Mike Davis explained how his department covers their territory in the southern end of the county.

“We buy other departments' junk,” he said. “Before we received our two grants, we used to just beg and borrow. We hoped we'd just get to the fire with the old trucks we had.”

Mount Weisner has also taken advantage of low-interest loans from Cherokee Electric, discretionary funding from the County Commission, and help from other sources.

“There were no fire hydrants down this way,” Davis said. “Dub Ellis helped arrange the funding to put in 10 hydrants.”

Broomtown's VFD covers area in the northern part of Cherokee County. The department upgraded one of their trucks through a grant in 2006. Even so, they still use two trucks older than some of the volunteers they carry -- a 1956 and a 1975 model. And they, too, eagerly accept the generosity of others.

“This job is part beggar, part politician,” said Chief David Glenn. “We take any handouts -- old, used equipment that other departments wouldn't have. One of our members knows a fireman in Atlanta. We were able to get 300 feet of hose from them that they would have discarded.”

Spring Creek Chief Wayne West said he knows the need for fundraising, but successfully working around firefighters' work schedule proves quite the challenge. His department recently assisted with the Biker's Shack Crawfish Boil, after which they received a “nice donation” for parking motorcycles and helping with security.

“It's hard to get everybody together to do fundraisers,” he said.

Ellisville's volunteer fire department recently acquired two trucks.

“We just got a retired truck donated from Thompson Caterpillar and we're getting it rigged up as a tanker,” said Chief Hank Richardson. “The Forestry Commission donated a brush truck. It's basically an old Army surplus truck.”

Ellisville VFD has also received two recent grants -- one for a truck and one for some personal protective equipment.

“Before the grant, we had some turn-out gear that was 15 years old,” he said. “We're a lot safer now.”

Richardson said one of the department's used fire trucks has a special past.

“We traded a donated 1967 model truck for a 1984 model pumper,” he said. “The dealer informed us that our newly-acquired truck was originally from the New York City fire department, and that it hauled caskets for at least 11 funerals of dead 9/11 firefighters.”