County Leaders Talk Fire Unification Plan With Local Volunteer Firefighters

September 9, 2008


Top county leaders brought their message of a unified county fire department to firefighters in Walnut Hill Monday night. The unification of Escambia County’s volunteer fire departments is on schedule to be completed by October 1.

Last week, county leaders explained the new consolidated fire department to the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club (click here to read that story). Monday night, they presented that same message to the Walnut Hil Volunteer Fire Department, where volunteers questioned what their role in the new county department would be.

“It’’s been a lot of work and we’ve beat some issues for weeks, but we have hammered out the agreement for the benefit of all,” Escambia Fire Chief Ken Perkins said.

“The biggest issue is saying we are one organization,” he said. “There was a need to further define the organization.”

Some of the volunteer firefighters at the Monday meeting at the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department questioned what their role would be in the unified department.

“I just want to alleviate those feelings that the volunteers are going to be left out of the organization,” Perkins told the volunteers. “You guys know how to do business and should be applauded for that.”

“It is not a cookie cutter approach,” Mike Hardin, the county’s public safety bureau chief, said. “Fire suppression is as different in Walnut Hill as it is in Pensacola Beach. We understand it is different in the north end.”

“This is evolutionary,  not revolutionary,” County Administrator Bob McLaughlin told the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department. “The bottom line is that we are here to protect people’s lives and property.”

Just as he told the Ruritan Club last Thursday night, Perkins told the volunteers of the benefits that he believes will come as a result of the fire department unification plan in Escambia County.

From the cost savings and improved efficiency of  a centralized warehouse and purchasing system, to improved communications, to physical exams and background checks for firefighters, Perkins discussed the benefits of the new system.

Improved training was another thing Perkins said the fire department consolidation plan will bring. He assured the firefighters in Walnut Hill Monday night that there would be training classes held in North Escambia for firefighters from Walnut Hill, Century, McDavid and Molino.

He also said paid firefighters that are currently stationed weekdays at Century and Molino would be allowed to work flex time and participate in night training with the volunteers in North Escambia.

Another issue Perkins discussed is the reduction of departments to staff vehicles. Currently, several officers from the volunteer departments are provided with fire vehicles to take home or wherever they may be.  This allows them a faster response time because they do not have to return to a fire station to get a truck. Under the consolidation plan, departments would be limited to two staff vehicles.

Perkins said those vehicles would be rotated among officers able to respond to calls.

“The intent is to share vehicles,” he said. “You very seldom have three staff vehicles running calls. We do think we can use them more efficiently.”

Under the unification plan, the following vehicle change will occur at North Escambia volunteer fire departments:

  • Cantonment: Reduce to two staff vehicles. Retire 1986 GMC mini pumper.
  • Century: Reduce to two staff vehicles. Change 1995 Tele-Squirt to reserve status. Change 1997 Spartan Pumper to reserve status.
  • McDavid: Reduce to two staff vehicles.
  • Molino: Reduce to two staff vehicles.
  • Walnut Hill: Reduce to two staff vehicles. Retire 1981 rescue truck.

The unification also comes with tougher standards for volunteer firefighters, including dozens of hours of training and the ability to pass a doctor’s physical exam at the county’s expense. The requirements also specify that a firefighter will hold a high school diploma or a GED certificate.

Those tougher training requirements would not apply to support personnel  volunteers, such as those that volunteer around fire stations doing tasks like paperwork and washing trucks.

The unification plan must still be approved by the Escambia County Commission before it becomes final.

Click here to read the entire unification plan. (63 pages, 3.73 Mb pdf)

Comments

One Response to “County Leaders Talk Fire Unification Plan With Local Volunteer Firefighters”

  1. Chuck on September 9th, 2008 7:55 pm

    Just got through reading the plan….. It’s a hammer boys!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News