By Gabrielle Isaac
The Robesonian
RED SPRINGS, N.C. — Red Springs officials say it’s business as usual at the Red Springs Volunteer Fire Department as they continue to fight for the recertification of the department.
The fire department’s decertification, handed down by the Office of the State Fire Marshal in January because of insufficient personnel, was temporarily halted by a judge after town officials argued that there is no formal process to appeal the decertification as required by state law. Town and state officials were expected to make their cases on the matter Thursday, but Wayne Goodwin, state commissioner of insurance and state fire marshal, agreed to extend the halt. A judge will decide this summer whether the decertification was justified.
In the meantime, Town Attorney Neil Yarborough hopes the temporary halt may also reinstate the town’s previous fire rating of a level 6, which would keep insurance rates for residents in the fire district from going up.
“I am making an effort to verify all this and when I have confirmation, I will let the town know,” Yarborough said. “But we should be able to maintain our original certification and insurance rates should remain the same.”
Yarborough said the town received notification Wednesday that Goodwin agreed outside of court to extend the halt of the decertification until a final trial in a few months decides if the department was rightfully decertified.
A hearing that was scheduled for Thursday was cancelled, saving taxpayers from paying legal fees and costs associated with the trial, Yarborough said.
“It’s wonderful that they extended the halt, but right now the only agreement in place is that we will go to trial at a later date over the issue of them accepting our appeal,” said Red Springs Mayor John McNeill. “But we are certain if we can sit down with them regarding the number of fireman we have, we could show them in several ways that we have met their requirements.”
McNeill said the fire department currently has about 25 firefighters who are actively involved in fighting fires and responding to calls in Red Springs. The state requires 20 to 22 firefighters, but an inspector determined during a surprise visit in January that the department had insufficient personnel, an infraction it was given a year to fix in January 2015.
McNeill said the department is also assisting and receiving assistance from four of five other departments in the area.
John Ammons, the town’s fire chief, said Thursday he is happy that the process of reversing the decertification is going smoothly.
Failure to fix the personnel infraction resulted in the decertification and drop in the fire department’s rating. Fire departments are inspected and assigned a level on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the best and 10 the worst. The level helps insurance companies decide the cost of homeowner’s insurance.
Stephanie Chavis, Robeson County fire marshal, said insurance rates could more than double should the town’s rating remain at a level 10.
At a town meeting in March, Red Springs residents spoke about the fire department during the public comments section of the meeting. Ellen Johnson, a 55-year resident of Red Springs, even called for the resignation of some town officials.
During the meeting, the commissioners authorized Yarborough to file a petition to appeal the decision of the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
His petition resulted in a temporary halt in the decertification of the Red Springs Volunteer Fire Department, issued by a judge on March 11.
“Myself and the board of commissioners of Red Springs don’t intend on stopping until we can get this reversed,” McNeill said. “We feel like we have a strong argument and that our fire chief and firefighters met these requirements.”
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