Consultants recommend additional Fire-EMS station

BIRCHbark consultants, hired to conduct the possibilty of a new fire and rescue station in a study, presented findings on Tuesday night March 26 to the Botetourt Board of Supervisors.

The news was not good since the fact that current response times in the county consistently lag behind national benchmarks. “To maintain a fire response contained to one room or a cardiac arrest within the 4.5 min benchmark, the data detailed the county fails 99% –100% of the time,”
Paul Brooks, a fire chief from North Carolina that works for Birch, reported to the group. Using diamond grids the space from station to residents showed even in the most populated areas located closer to stations, response is not meeting the benchmarks noted.

Brooks said, “You have a very unique county.” Botetourt County is primarily rural with a a suburban southern end. In the more populated southern end, fire and rescue services in the area cannot keep up with demand.

The three areas he said were the prominent areas for additional fire and ems are: “Principally in three areas: Gateway Crossing, Daleville Town Center, and the Greenfield Industrial Park.”

The proposed new station would need to be located in the close proximity of those areas.

The Superivisors and Fire Chief Jason Ferguson responded positively to the recommendation. Billy Martin said, “The facts were interesting in the 53 page report, but no timeline for response has been established.”

The county and Fire and EMS will continue to explore and discuss the proposed new station.

–Cathy Benson