By James Thomas Jr.
The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.)
SUFFOLK, Va. — When alarms sounded that multiple tornados had touched down in parts of northwest Suffolk recently, emergency crews from the Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Department were among the first to arrive at devastated sites near Obici Sentara Hospital and Hillpoint Farms.
At about the same time, a series of coordinated maneuvers got under way that sent emergency units from Carrollton and Smithfield to backfill Chuckatuck Station 9.
Other local VFDs rushed to support other designated stations. It’s part of an emergency response plan to insure all areas remain covered.
Such teamwork and emergency planning typifies the role of today’s volunteer fire departments.
VFDs have greatly evolved from the days when a lone pumper stayed shuttered inside a neighbor’s garage and used only in case of fire. They now comprise rural networks of first emergency responders. Their rigorous training and specialized gear have redefined their roles of merely fighting fires.
No longer are they relegated as just support to paid departments but, instead, share an equal role with them. They are, in fact, volunteer professionals.
2007 was the Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Department’s busiest in its 53-year history. Its 40 active members answered 355 calls in northwest Suffolk and parts of Isle of Wight County.
The Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department that covers the largest area of the county and routinely handles twice as many calls saw its numbers spike, too.
But in both situations fire was seldom the cause for alarm.
“Most of the calls are accident runs,” said Jason Stallings, Smithfield fire chief. “Call volumes have increased because more people are moving into the county. Every time an accident with injuries comes in an engine has to go out. The risk of fire is there but mostly it’s patient care, an extrication maybe...or hazard control, oil or gas spillage.”
Circumstances vary but the scenario is much the same for four other departments (Carrollton, Windsor, Rushmere and Carrsville) that cover Isle of Wight County and parts of Franklin and Suffolk: most calls that send emergency units slaloming through traffic, horns honking and sirens blaring have little to do with fighting fires, yet much to do with saving lives.
On every emergency run at least one firefighter has basic or enhanced EMT training. Their onboard medical equipment includes oxygen, blood pressure cuffs, heart defibrillators and IVs to administer fluids and certain drugs.
They’re also equipped with hydraulic rescue tools, an assortment of metal-cutting saws, air bags to lift heavy loads and a fleet of emergency vehicles to fight fire or handle any rescue attempt.
“We can do anything the rescue squad can do except transport,” noted Travis Dortch, assistant chief, Chuckatuck.
Some VFDs are paired with volunteer rescue squads; others partner with paid crews from the county or closest city. The Suffolk Rescue Squad, for instance, uses the station and bunk room at the Chuckatuck station. In turn, Chuckatuck gets a paramedic crew and vehicle at the ready 24 hours a day.
Most VFDs require new members to get their Firefighter One certificates within the first year. It is an entry level course that combines classroom hours and practical exercises to prepare the firefighter for most ground functions under the supervision of an officer or experienced firefighter.
Additional training for volunteers and how advanced they becomes is left to them. It can range from qualifying to drive a truck and operate the pump to mastery of Advanced Life Support training that includes extended hours of clinical rotations in a hospital emergency room.
Certification for specialized skills such as rope, water or air rescues or rescues from a structural collapse can also be obtained. Paid or volunteer, all firefighter certification is sanctioned by the state.
“Being a volunteer has nothing to do with a paycheck. It’s being trained and providing a service to people when they need it,” explained Greg Parsons, Chuckatuck fire chief. “We do the same thing as paid firefighters. The only thing different is they go through the firefighter academy. That takes about four months. It takes our guys a little longer since most have outside jobs.”
Standards of safety are also the same for both volunteer and career firefighters. However, due to manpower shortages volunteer squads may come up short on some emergencies, noted Stallings.
The National Fire Protection Association requires no less than four people on all engine calls.
Local VFDs have gotten away with three, admitted Parsons. The NFPA mandates 18 to 20 firefighters on each structural fire. In a pinch, volunteer departments have turned out with fewer than that.
For either group, it’s a dangerous job. Life and death hang in the balance on each call. People do get hurt; sometimes they die.
“Fire is fire. It’ll kill you just as dead in Smithfield as it will in Norfolk,” said Stallings. “And it takes the same tactical effort to put it out.
“I’m the fire chief and if I send a man out and he gets killed, I’m responsible. The training is great; the equipment is top notch. But when it comes to manpower, it’s always an issue.”
Oddly enough, the dangers, the risks are what partly attracts volunteers to sign-up and do for free what career firefighters get paid reasonably well for doing. Stallings calls it, “the rush.”
Risk-taking is not the sole attraction, he adds, but, moreover, serving one’s community, the pride one gets in saving a dwelling, compassion for victims, even elation over the arrival of a newborn.
“I started at the Isle of Wight rescue, ran rescue with a neighbor and I really liked it - the rush and thrill,” said Jennifer Harvey, Carrollton Volunteer Fire Department. “I was looking for adventure. I found it there. And if there was something that I really needed I could go to these guys and they would help me out.”
Tradition and career interest bond the ties of volunteers. Parsons is also battalion chief in the city of Portsmouth Fire Department.
Stallings, a career firefighter for the city of Richmond, is a third-generation family volunteer. Two brothers-in-law and a cousin are active members.
Many 25-year lifetime VFD members remain active; some have 50-plus years. Departments not only cooperate in emergencies but also support the other’s causes and attend the same social functions.
Some departments have women’s auxiliaries but spouses and other family members routinely pitch-in on charities and fundraisers.
“We raise about 65 percent of our yearly operating budget. Wives, families and the whole community helps out on fundraisers,” said Vernon Gayle, a 52-year member at Chuckatuck and president of the department. “We have a golf tournament, fish fries twice a year and send out letters to the community during Fire Prevention Week.”
Despite their open admissions policies, most VFDs are still white male dominated organizations.
Chuckatuck has one black male firefighter and two women. Smithfield has no blacks and four women out of 45 members. Carrsville has no blacks and three women out of 32 members. Windsor has no blacks, or women out of 40-50 members, and Carrollton has two blacks and five women out of 35-40 members.
Ricky McCleod, a three- year member at Chuckatuck and local Boy Scout leader, is the station’s lone black member. He came to the firehouse after his Scouts - bivouacking in his yard - expressed curiosity about what went on at the fire station down the street.
“It was a whole different impression than I thought it would be,” said McCleod. “I was impressed with the people I met. At the time I was driving a truck.”
McCleod joined Station 9 and is also a member of the city of Portsmouth Fire Department.
Rushmere has the only predominately black fire department in the area. Station 30 serves a community that has seen a large influx of whites in recent years. Of 50 active members 10 are white explained Keith Jones, fire chief; nearly one-third are women.
Formed in 1986, tragedy prompted citizens to form their own fire department. “Around the time, a father and his two boys died in a mobile home fire,” said Jones. “Smithfield couldn’t get to us; Surry couldn’t get to us. The distance was just too far. Whenever there was a fire in Rushmere or the Bacon Castle area the results were always devastating. I kept those memories in mind.”
Despite manpower shortages, most VFDs have strict guidelines for memberships:
* Applicants must be 18 years old with a high school diploma or GED (16 year olds can receive training)
* Complete a physical exam (including drug testing)
* Criminal background check
* Valid state driver’s license
* Speak, read and write English
“We have a high standard that we must keep up all the time,” said Gayle.
“People trust us with their lives and their property,” added Stallings. “We don’t want to do anything to lose that trust.”
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