All four of the Tucker County Fire Companies were inspected by the State of West Virginia on Tuesday, August 12th as one of many parts of their certification process, according to Parsons Fire Chief and Director of OEM Kevin White. White made the announcement to the Tucker County Commission on Wednesday, August 13th that all four Departments passed their inspections. The inspections, White said occur once every five years.
“Their doors are open, they are certified for another five year period,” White said.
Tucker County Commission President Mike Rosenau thanked the Fire Company Volunteers on behalf of the Commission for their hard work and dedication to the County. Rosenau commended the volunteers and said they all do a “fabulous job protecting the County.”
“If its a car accident, a house fire, a lost hiker or its whatever, the Fire Departments are always there, willing to help,” Rosenau said.
White said the Inspector informed him that he never receives any complaints about Tucker County. White also said that the Inspector was impressed with how Tucker County works together.
“He said, I can’t say that about every Fire Department, but Tucker County, you guys get along, you take care of your business, you do what needs to be done and we receive no complaints,” White said.
White said the inspections are rigorous and the equipment must be well maintained and proper or the State will not certify the station.
“It is quite rigorous inspections,” White said. “There is a lot that has to be done. There is a lot to work through and if your equipment is not up to snuff, they will not certify.”
White said that the cost to Emergency Services has raised exponentially since 2019.
“The Emergency Services as a whole since 2019, the cost of equipment has gone up 120%,” White said. “Specifically for Fire Departments. That’s not just trucks, that’s all equipment together, has gone up 120% since 2019.”
The high cost of equipment recently priced the Parsons Fire Department out of a new Fire Truck. As a creative solution, the Department sent an older truck to a facility to be rebuilt from the frame up at a fraction of the cost.
“Meaning that, that fire truck that used to cost $400,000 now costs a million dollars and that’s just the way it is,” White said.
It is not just the cost of vehicles that has raised. The cost to put each fire fighter in gear is also high. The Parsons Volunteer Fire Department alone has 42 volunteers that each have to have their own individual gear purchased at least every 10 years, whether it needs it or not, due to State regulations. According to White, boots alone cost the department $500 a pair and in total the average Fire Fighter’s gear costs a department $17,000 per person.
Rosenau said that the County Commission one day hopes to increase funding to the County’s Fire Companies through Hotel/Motel fund monies. The hope is with the implementation of the 2% Special Ambulance Fee assisting EMS funding, more Hotel/Motel fund money could be directed to the County Fire Companies in the future.
“The 2% fee being placed on certain things in our County, can only be spent on Ambulance Service,” Rosenau said. “Well, we have another mechanism in our County called the Hotel/Motel Fund. The Hotel/Motel Funds, there’s guidelines we have for that. One of the guidelines and one of the things that you can help fund is Fire Departments, EMS.”
The County Commission’s hope is to one day better fund all emergency services in Tucker County to assist both residents and visitors alike, Rosenau said.
“So the Commission’s way of thinking is, with the 2% in place that goes directly to EMS, the Ambulances, we’re hoping in time, we could reduce the money from Hotel/Motel going to EMS and can increase going to Fire Companies because we have that availability to do that with Hotel/Motel,” Rosenau said. “So the long term plan is that is what we are hoping to do so that all of our services in our County can be better funded.”
White said the money would not only be appreciated, but needed by the County Fire Companies.
“Not only is it needed, but it would be greatly appreciated, if that could come to fruition,” White said.
However, with the current battle the County faces over the Special Ambulance Fee in not only the District, but as of August 14th, Federal Courts, there is no word on when any more funds may be directed towards the County’s Fire Departments.
