Volunteer fire departments feel COVID’s pinch
Anderson County plans to send resolution seeking state aid
Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ambrea Peters checks out one of her department’s trucks at Sta- tion 1 in Andersonville on Tuesday, Feb. 9. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
When the pandemic took off in the United States in spring 2020, there we numerous funds made available to help offset the cost of running emergency services, but the ones that were targeted were municipal departments.
Many rural fire departments were left high and dry.
“The county pays for each volunteer fire department a new fire truck every other year,” said Tim Isbel, Anderson County commisioner and chairman of the county’s Operation Committee.
Isbel also sits on the board of the Medford Volunteer Fire Department.
Isbel noted the county used to provide one truck annually, but “When we hit rough times, financially, the county had to scale that back.” The resolution, passed by the county some 15 years ago called for an annual fire truck.
During the Operations Committee Monday meeting, it was noted that Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department will be the last department to receive a truck.
Those trucks cost about $275,000 each.
Isbel said the resolution forwarded Monday will ask the state and federal governments, when allocating COVID relief funds, to consider the importance of the volunteer fire departments.
Rural areas depend on volunteers
According to the 2010 United States Census, Anderson County’s population was 79,978. Of that, municipalities comprised about a third of the population: Clinton 9,841; Oak Ridge 29,156; Rocky Top (Lake City) 1,781; and Norris 1,602. The 2020 census figures have not been released.
That leaves almost two-thirds of the population dependent on volunteer fire departments not just for fire protection, but at times, first-responder protection.
“We’re a rural county,” Anderson County Commissioner Catherine Denenberg said. “While our municipalities are getting relief funding for their citizens, a large part of the county isn’t.”
Not all volunteer fire departments have taken big financial hits during the pandemic.
Chief Dusty Sharp of Claxton Volunteer Fire Department said his department conducted a letter campaign when the traditional fire department fundraisers were curtailed.
No more boot drives
“We actually stopped doing the boot drives about four years ago because people got mad,” he said. “We did have to stop some fundraisers, but we sent out a newsletter and got a really good response.”
Sharp noted the Claxton community has always been a “huge” supporter of its volunteer fire department.
“But it’s (COVID) affected everybody … But maybe not some as much as others,” he said.
Chief Stephanie Fox of Marlow Fire Department has witnessed a different set of circumstances.
“When people get laid off work, furloughed, whatever the case may be, they have to pinch pennies and some of the first things they cut are donations,” she said.
Fox said the COVID guidelines set by the CDC affect so many things in her department. There are the costs of upgraded equipment and supplies associated with COVID, and, she added, during the pandemic there just weren’t as many grants available, not even for that updated equipment that was required.
“It impacted us,” she said.
Isbel said the county is always willing to help any volunteer fire department acquire grants. But those grants have to be available. Those grants, he said, have become fewer and fewer.
One of the more-telling things for Fox was training. Following CDC guidelines, some training had to be done virtually, she said. “Electronically, we can do some things, but honestly, I don’t feel that’s the best way to do it,” she said.
“You really can’t overlook that.”
There is another aspect.
Community support means community involvement. Before the pandemic, fundraisers were a community event. Chili suppers, silent auctions, even bake sales brought everybody out. It was a chance “to visit,” an opportunity to socialize.
That kind of involvement is hard pressed to pass on in a resolution to a state or federal government. You can’t put, “Community pride,” or “Getting to now your neighbor” in a resolution to the government.
“People got to know us,” Fox said. “Community relations is a big aspect for volunteer fire departments. We want people to know who we are and what we do.”
Isbel said the Medford Volunteer Fire Department “probably” had the best fundraising chili suppers in the county.
Laugh all you want, but in rural communities that’s a big deal. Because it connects people. Not because it connects people with their neighbors, but because it also connects them with the people who may be saving their life one day.
Bragging rights to the wayside, under CDC guidelines those kinds of events aren’t possible.
“I can see where people miss that,” he said. “It is part of being a community.”
Sharp noted that the Claxton Volunteer Fire Department had to skip the tradition chili supper fundraisers and other events, but his department’s “Truck or Treat” fundraiser — a drive-through event — was successful this last fall.
“That went well for us,” he said.
There is no guideline for how this worked out in the pandemic. It depended on your community and the circumstances of the people who lived there.
This is not just a resolution that addresses a worst-case scenario.
This resolution doesn’t address a home fire, a crash in your front yard, a medical emergency. Volunteer Fire Departments respond regardless of what the emergency is.
Look at any volunteer fire department with a Facebook page and you will see the number of times a department responds to traffic crashes (often as first responders) and medical emergencies.
According to the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page, it covers 68 sqaure miles with three stations that cover everything from neighborhoods to high-traffic roadways and lakefront boat docks and beaches.
Another aspect, one that may have consequences in the long run, are RFVD’s Insurance Service Office (ISO) ratings. Depending on a homeowners insurance company, a good ISO rating (10 is bad, 1 is great) of the fire department where you live can affect how you pay for homeowner’s insurance.
That fire department can be a municipal fire department, or it can be a volunteer fire department. Either way, the better the rating — and that means updated equipment and the latest training — the lower the homeowners insurance.