Our cover story for April 5 (Burning Down The House) reveals the troubles of the Escambia County volunteer fire departments – nearly 3 out of 4 isn’t properly certified. The state requires 160 hours of training to Firefighter 1 Certification. Without that certification, the volunteer isn’t suppose to fight fires, hold rank in VFD or receive higher stipends.
Right now the Clerk of Courts office is auditing the VFD to see if volunteers have been improperly paid. A report submited by the paid firefighters union alleges that the Century Volunteer Fire Department made $2,640 in payments in December when only Assistant Chief David Adams was entitled to a full stipend, since he’s the only one of 17 volunteers who is certified. Adams earned $345 for the month records show.
Assuming every volunteer firefighter in Century qualified for the $75 stipend, the total payment would be $1,545, or $1,095 less than the county was billed. That’s just one month.
Countywide, it’s possible as being overpaying stipends annually to the tune of $100K to $200K for firefighters who are inadequately trained.
The State Fire Marshall is investigating the training problems. Magaha’s office is auditing the finances. And the County Commissioners are appointed a 15-member Fire Services Citizens Advisory Committee to review the fire protection system and make recommendations in July.
We will hear the county’s response to day. Expect finger-pointing – stories of how difficult it is to get volunteers, too expensive to hire paid firefighters, training rules are too harsh,denials of any real problems.
The real question is how safe are county residents. What are the reasonable expectations in case of a fire? I think if we honestly look at the issue that we will realize county government can’t provide city-level services for fire protection. More of the county needs to be annexed into the city, especially the more heavily commerical and residential areas, so that they will get the fire and police protection that they want and deserve.