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BUCKHANNON – Former firefighters and members of the community expressed concern for the future of Upshur County’s volunteer fire departments during a question-and-answer session last week.
The Upshur County Firefighters Association arranged the Q&A session to answer any questions the community might have about the proposed fire fee increase that will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
The current fire fee structure is paid annually and costs $25 for an individual residence, $50 for a commercial property and $5 for five or more acres of vacant land. The increase on the general election ballot would raise the fees to $35 for an individual residence, $70 for a commercial property and $7 for five or more acres of vacant land.
Joe Carrico, the vice president of the Upshur County Firefighters Association, noted the fee has not increased since its inception in 2000, making it difficult to keep up with rising costs of gear, gas and other necessities.
“Last year, each department in this county got $36,000 from the county fire fee. There are seven departments, and six of them are totally volunteer,” Carrico said. “The Buckhannon department is what they call a combination department because they’re part paid, part volunteer, but their volunteer side gets the same amount of money the other volunteer departments get.”
Carrico said the county’s volunteer departments also received $89,685 from the state for the last two quarters of last year and the first two of this year to go along with that $36,000. Buckhannon residents pay higher taxes and fees, and the city’s paid department has a budget of more than $1.5 million.
“Buckhannon doesn’t get quite as much as we get from the state because of being a combination department. They only get about 59% of what we get,” Carrico said. “I think they received $53,000 and change during the last four quarters, but that’s because they are a combination department.”
The funds provided by the state and the fire fee must be spent on specific, qualifying items.
“It seems like a huge amount of money when you’re talking $120,000, but there are so many rules, so many things we have to do with this money, people don’t understand,” Carrico said. “This money is only to be used for firefighting equipment. We can pay for maintenance on our vehicles, we can pay for building maintenance, we can pay utility bills, insurance, things like that. But this T-shirt, like I’m wearing, which you’ll see about every firefighter in the county wears, or these hats, you can’t buy that with county funds or state funds. You can’t buy any kind of personal thing for an individual fireman unless it’s a piece of firefighting equipment.”
Carrico emphasized they also have to submit an audit to the fire board on all the money they spend.
Community member Jeff Allen asked why the fire departments don’t try to recoup some costs by billing insurance companies after responding to a fire or car accident.
“The state put that into effect years ago. We have to go through the county commission and have them write an ordinance allowing us to bill them,” Carrico said. “I’ve talked about this, and some departments are for it; some are against it.”
Community member and retired volunteer firefighter Tom Anderson said he’s not against the rate increase, but he doesn’t see how it will help them solve their biggest problem, manpower.
“I’ve been in the fire service or associated with it for 56 years. When I worked, you could push a button, and you had 40 people,” Anderson said. “You can push every department in the county’s button now, and you won’t get 40 people. The city runs to my house, and if they decide to do it, I will be in their new first-due area, and I’ll pay a fee to them. If they quit doing that, and I have to depend on Washington District to come to my house, my insurance is going to get sky-high, if I can even get the insurance.”
Currently, the Buckhannon department responds to its ‘first due’ area outside of city limits even though those residents and businesses do not pay as much for service. City officials have discussed ways to ensure everyone pays the same amount for the same service, whether through a first-due fee or by becoming a municipal-only department.
Allen said he felt like the rate increase is just pushing the real problem away for now.
“I have not met any people that really have a problem raising the fire fee. I don’t either,” Allen said. “But what if you’re just kicking the can down the road? What are we going to do?”
Former fire chief and community member Mitch Tacy said he didn’t think the additional funds from this increase would make enough of a difference in the service provided by the Upshur County departments.
“I’m a retired fireman, and when I retired, I had over 40 years of service. That was back in 2015. I don’t want anybody to take this out of context, but I’m not convinced how raising the fire fee $10 is going to make the fire service any better,” Tacy said. “I don’t think you’ve asked for enough. You’re going to get each fire department about a $10,000-a-year increase from the county if this fire fee increase goes through, and you can’t even buy two sets of turnout gear for $10,000. You’re looking at about $6,000 to put a guy in a helmet, a coat, a pair of pants, gloves, a helmet, let alone the $8,000 air pack.”
Tacy said he has seen the lack of manpower during calls, and it makes him nervous.
“Not too long ago, there was a fire on Brushy Fork. The Buckhannon Fire Department responded, but they requested two volunteer fire departments in the county. Out of the two volunteer fire departments they requested help from, they got three guys: one guy from one fire department and two guys from another fire department,” Tacy said. “During that incident, they had a mayday. They had a firefighter in an attic who got disoriented, ran out of air and had to be rescued. It scares the hell out of me to think that’s going on.”
Tacy suggested raising the fee but using the funds to pay for consistent manpower.
“I think the consensus in this room is, and from what I’m hearing in the community, that people would rather see the fire fee increased and do something positive with it, whether that’s only one or two guys at some of these outlying stations, at least to get some help during the daytime when manpower is critical,” Tacy said. “I think you guys are missing a golden opportunity in the fire service to make it better in Upshur County, and I don’t think the $10 is enough.”
Tacy said fire departments are not allowed to use state or county funds to hire firefighters, and that should be changed.
“The one thing the fire service needs more than anything is manpower, manpower, manpower, manpower, and the only thing you can’t spend any money on that you get in the fire service today is manpower,” Tacy said. “You cannot spend your money on the thing you need most, and that’s a problem in the state. That is a problem that needs to be addressed, and I think, guys, you have a golden opportunity now.”
Buckhannon Fire Chief JB Kimble clarified the local Fire Board can also vote to use its county funds on manpower, but that vote was tabled in 2023.
Carrico said he understood Tacy, but they want to tackle these problems one step at a time.
“Mitch, I understand what you’re saying. Right now, we’re taking baby steps. This thing is all set to go on the ballot for $10, and I’d urge you to go ahead and vote yes for it,” Carrico said. “Then I would like to see this group of people and more people get together sometime and kick around these other ideas that have been brought up.”
