Another paid vs. volunteer battle and this one is in my back yard. It’s embarrassing!

I don’t speak out much on the paid vs volunteer issue here on the site but most of you who have met or know me, know where I stand. For me, it’s not paid vs. volunteer; it’s professional vs nonprofessional.

I know a lot of damn good firemen who are volunteers. I know just as many “paid guys” who aren’t worth a dime. Paid or vollie … it doesn’t matter to me as long as you do the job.

To expect less would be a disgrace to those who came before us.

That is why we are all here right? It do the job. To protect and serve our fellow man.

After reading our local paper this morning, I’m not so sure all of my area Departments / members share that same direction / goal. I work in the city (43 sq. miles). We are surrounded entirely by Roanoke County (251 sq miles) who has their own combination Department. Rhett and I tell everyone to think of Roanoke County as a doughnut with the City being the “hole” … lol… I know… in more ways than one!

Roanoke County is then obviously bordered by several other Counties.. Botetourt County is one of them. Botetourt is becoming a lot like Roanoke County in that it’s growing fast. It is is 541 sq. miles and is served by 7 fire departments ( census stats HERE ). Until recently, they were all volunteer.

Roanoke County started out all volunteer as well. Years ago, forward thinking volunteer Chiefs such as Woody Henderson(and others) realized that the County was rapidly outgrowing the resources of many of their volunteer Departments. They simply couldn’t meet the demands of growth and I can understand that. They asked the County for help.

Roanoke County’s response was to supplement the Volunteer’s with a variety of paid members. Ambulances were staffed at some stations while others received crews to staff fire apparatus. Not all stations were supported with paid members in the beginning. I believe that for the most part, the shifts were only 8 or maybe 12 hrs back then … they covered the daylight shift while most volunteers were working and unable to respond to calls.

With the leadership and support of Chiefs Tommy Fuqua, Rick Burch and many of the Volunteer Chiefs (again like Chief Henderson) their Department now has approx 153 paid members supporting 250 volunteers in 12 stations.

Apparently, some of Botetourt’s Volunteer Chiefs are not as forward thinking. The County just recently hired it’s first few paid firefighters. I believe they run out of the Fincastle Station (#4).

Continuing with their plan, on January 24th; the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to establish a Department of Emergency Services. It will combine all existing fire and emergency medical services into a single Department, volunteers and paid staff, and would also create within it a new director position to oversee operations.

“The director will not have the authority to direct the volunteer organizations’ routine administrative functions. The job description calls for a team-oriented consensus builder — skills that surely will be important from Day One”

A couple volunteer Chiefs are calling foul ….apparently they don’t want the help.

Actually, it’s not the “help” they’re afraid of, it’s the possibility of someone taking over “their” emergency scene. YEA .. they don’t want the position filled because they are afraid of the authority the new position will carry.

If need be, “when deemed necessary for the welfare of the public or responders “ the Director of Emergency Services COULD assume command of an incident…. “COULD” but it’s unlikely.

Read the article from this morning’s Roanoke Times HERE

Never mind the welfare of the citizens and visitors of the County they protect. Never mind the safety of the Fire and Rescue members (paid or volunteer) who respond to incidents within the County. This is all about a Volunteer and his “AUTHORITY” ? Are you kidding me?

One of the Chiefs opposing the new position caught my attention ….Buchanan’s Chief Billy Joe Carter.

You may remember Chief Carter as well. I posted on him a couple of times back in January as he was injured in a “Firefighter Close Call”.

Carter arrived on scene of a well involved mobile home fire with reports of an occupant trapped. As the fire quickly progressed, the service drop burnt from the home and delivered an electrical shock to Chief Carter after hitting the ground. He said he didn’t get “out of the way” quick enough this time ( I guess he’s out ran electricity before). He radioed the information to dispatch stating “it’s pretty bad” then directed the arriving members attention to the fire and away from him. He was later transported to a local hospital and placed in ICU .

I cringed every time the local news played the interview with Chief Carter from his hospital bed. THIS is a Chief ? THIS is the image the Buchanan VFD wants to project? What “message” is this guy and his Department sending (to it’s members as well as the public) ?

As it turned out, the mobile home was unoccupied and I said it was “good news for the Chief”. I said that because had someone HAVE been inside that home, he would have had to listen to them die. Even if he had PPE and an SCBA with him, he would have never gotten a seal or been able to execute a rescue. This member was not “Battle Ready” and SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME.

Read my Previous post HERE and the one including his bedside interview HERE

Chief Carter seems to be one of the leaders of the opposition to Botetourt’s new Director of Emergency Services. No way is he going to let some body else run one of his emergency scenes!

“He said Tuesday that if an emergency services director assumes control of a scene “there are going to be a lot of hurt feelings and busted noses.”

“Hurt feelings” ???? “Busted noses” ??? You’ve got to be kidding me? Now THERE’S a professional Chief for ya!

Well I hope I don’t hurt his “feelings” but I wish someone more competent would have been there to take command back in January…. maybe then he wouldn’t have became another “Close Call” statistic and ended up in ICU.

This job is NOT ABOUT YOU or being in “CONTROL”. It’s not YOUR fire. It’s about the people we have sworn to serve and protect. There is no shame in asking for or accepting help. If supplemental paid positions will decrease response times and increase the level of Public Safety in Botetourt County, then I’m all for it and any Chief in his right mind should be as well. Drop the egos and do the right thing guys. DO YOUR JOB … I have family who lives there and I’m depending on you! ALL OF YOU !

Stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines