Study for a new Daleville Fire and EMS station moves forward

Work continues on the study for a proposed new fire and ems station in the Daleville area. On Monday Feb 25, Burch and Associates continued with a public forum to garner comments. Nelsie Burch was on hand to lead the meeting. While most in the audience were from Fire and EMS, citizens also came to speak. The response was positive to move forward from those who spoke to the need.

In about three weeks the study will be presented to the Botetourt Board of Supervisors. The results of the public forum and an internet survey will be used in the analysis for the need for a new fire station.

The forum covered four major areas presented by a retired fire chief, Greg Grayson who works for Burch.

The four areas discussed were Strengths, Gaps, Missed Opportunities and Threats.

Each area was well covered by discussion. The meeting began at 5 pm and ended after 7 pm.

Two citizens who spoke were Tom Bier and Bill Todd. Some of the strengths they mentioned were a seamless coordination between paid and volunteer staff, leadership and commitment not only to the staions but to the safety of the citizen.

“There are 7 volunteer stations in the county, said Gary Rock one of the volunteer leaders, “we need to keep a good membership roll of volunteers.” Thus one of the weaknesses noted was getting and retaining volunteer membership. It was noted there are many young volunteers under the age of 30.

Botetourt was commended for being proactive by training together volunteers and paid staff, as well as having good equipment and modern apparatus. Gaps included location of stations in a county over 540 square miles in size with concentrated suburban population as well as rural and even rustic areas.

Missed opportunities? The Fire Dept was once a hub in a community. Reaching out to the community for donations and developing tighter bonds with served communities were mentioned. “Anyone can help out on a Fire or EMS group. It does not have to be a response to a call but can be administrative,” noted Fire Volunteer CJ Booth.

Perceived threats included once again, recruitment of volunteers and retention but also includes committed paid staff.  Keeping up with the call level is also important and probably the biggest reason for an additional station in a county experiencing growth in the Daleville area. With apartments and more construction currently taking place, it is very important to keep ahead of the services needed for the population increase.  Developing strong leadership is a must. Financial sources are a must to maintain safe and effective Fire and EMS.

Communication both between FIRE and EMS personnel top to bottom is essential and, in another definition, better up to date communication equipment to be used in the field and at response sites. Both arenas are a must.

Fire and EMS Chief Jason Ferguson added pertinent and Fire and EMS historical information to the discussion. The results will be discussed at the March 26 Supervisors meeting.

Story and photo by Cathy Benson