The Daily News
BEAR CREEK, N.C. — One of Onslow County’s volunteer fire departments risks closing its doors if it is unable to address the need for daytime personnel to respond to calls.
Members of the Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department held a community meeting Tuesday night to discuss the situation and options available to the department to ensure it meets state requirements regarding response to fire calls.
Fire Chief Rich Westfall said the bottom line is the department does not have the personnel to keep the minimum number of firefighters available for response during the daytime hours.
Westfall said the department is comprised entirely of volunteers who have jobs and family commitments during the day.
“From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. is when we hurt,” Westfall said.
It’s a situation that currently has the department under a 12-month probation due to concerns related to response availability.
Vernon Ward, one of two representatives from the Office of the State Fire Marshal to attend the meeting, said the state office was contacted in November 2014 by someone indicating that the department was not responding with enough people.
Ward said they are responsible for looking into such complaints and made contact with the department, which was placed under the probationary period.
During such time, he said, a department is required to provide reports about calls they received.
Ward explained in a phone interview Wednesday that the department continues to operate and answer calls during a probationary period but is being monitored to ensure the department is meeting standards.
“A probation period means you are being watched and have been given an opportunity to correct a problem,” Ward said.
However, Ward said the department is nine months into the probation period and there hasn’t been a corrective action.
“We’re not here to beat you up, but the state has standards that have to be met,” he said.
Westfall said the since being on probation the department has had to contact the state about a violation when there were two non-response calls in one day.
Ward said that at a minimum a department is to have a fire truck with four people in route to each call. In this case, an assistant chief responded in his private vehicle to check that all was OK.
“For those two calls, there was no truck,” he said.
Westfall said the department has had informal discussions with the Swansboro Fire Department about a merger but no action has been taken.
He said the Swansboro Fire Department is a municipal department with paid personnel who are available during the day, which is why they have had discussions with the town.
The idea would be to keep the Bear Creek station open and have Swansboro staff both stations with two paid personnel from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week. Volunteers would cover the nighttime hours and day time hours based on availability.
A merger was one possible option discussed during the meeting but by the end of evening talks leaned toward the department pursuing a service district tax to raise revenue to bring in some paid personnel during the day.
That news surprised Swansboro commissioners during a Wednesday night workshop.
The town board was prepared to hear a presentation about the potential merger but was informed by Carl Bell, secretary of the Bear Creek department’s board, that they had declined the merger option.
Bell attended the workshop with Ward and Onslow County Emergency Services Director Norman Bryson.
Swansboro Mayor Scott Chadwick, who was part of discussions with the county about the merger option, asked why the fire department had changed directions.
The possibility of the town annexing the Bear Creek community was a concern raised during the community meeting.
Chadwick said the concern is unwarranted. It is not something the town is considering and, under current state law, wouldn’t be possible without the request and support of the property owner.
“Annexation is not something that is on the table,” he said.
Chadwick said in a phone interview Thursday that the idea of the merger was not the town’s idea but it is one he believes he and the board would support if the details are right.
However, Chadwick said it’s possible the merger idea will return.
“I don’t expect this issue to fade away,” he said.
There are not currently any fire service tax districts in Onslow County and Ward indicated it may not be a viable option; at least not a timely one.
Ward explained that the department continues to operate with its current fire department rating but it could lose its rating if the situation is not corrected by the time to probationary period ends in November.
Fire departments are given a rating of 1-10, with a 1 being the best and 10 the worst.
Ward said the state cannot shut down a department. However, it can drop the rating to 10, in which case the county could choose not to contract with the department to provide service in the district.
Westfall said Wednesday that the department will be working on a plan of action to see if they can make the service district tax happen.
He said the department’s goal is to remain open and serving the community.
“What we’re trying to do is keep the doors open and the trucks rolling. That’s what we care about,” Westfall said.
Bear Creek residents who attended the meeting, many who said they only heard about the meeting last minute, said there has been a lack of communication with residents about the situation.
Many said they did not realize there was a problem until they attended the meeting.
“This is the first time I’ve hear there was an issue,” said Maria Elge, who moved to the area six months ago.
Jessica Sexton has lived in the area 20 years and said after the meeting that she is concerned the department is focusing on a single plan of action and putting “all of its eggs in one basket.”
While supportive of the department, she was also unaware of the magnitude of the situation.
“It’s a great fire department. It’s just unfortunate that no one knew how bad things have gotten,” she said.
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