On the same day that Commissioner Steve Worley chastised the Barrow County Professional Firefighters Association for going to the media about the staffing shortage in the county’s fire stations, a couple in his district witnessed the county’s problem up close.
The man and woman, who asked not to be identified, own a home on Harry McCarty Road in Bethlehem.
Worley sees firefighter staffing problem up close
A chimney caught fire around 10:26 a.m. on Nov. 10 and spread flames mostly throughout a sunroom and heavy smoke everywhere else. When Barrow County Emergency Services responded to the call, the first unit on the scene was a two-man med unit from Station 3 in Bethlehem.
But when the first of three fire engines arrived, only one firefighter got out of the truck. The homeowners said they later learned that the second firefighter was out of work because he had to take a “Kelly Day,” which is an unpaid day off required by the county to avoid having to pay firefighters overtime.
“These folks shared with me what took place at that fire,” Worley said. “One of our fire trucks showed up to fight that fire and only one fireman got out of that truck.”
Worley acknowledged that until he received the couple’s call last week, he wasn’t convinced the county was still putting only one firefighter on any engines. He said that while he had been informed about the staffing shortage earlier in his term — first by former chief Robert Post and then by chief Mark Melvin around April or May — he had been assured that enough part-time firefighters would be hired to cover the vacancies of full-time personnel who were sick or on vacation or in training.
“Now is when I have factual evidence that that’s not the case,” Worley said. “And whatever this problem is, whether it’s a scheduling problem or a shortage on personnel, I have now spoken to two former fire chiefs and the interim chief. This makes the third chief telling me we have a personnel shortage problem and we need to address it. And if it is at all possible, I want to resolve the problem at the next meeting.”
Worley said that on Tuesday, he also learned that in August, the county chairman had reduced the minimum staffing per shift from 25 to 23. He said he does not agree with that decision and plans to introduce a motion at the commission’s Nov. 24 meeting to address the issue.
“When I had to stand in front of these people’s house and they looked at me and said, ‘Why did the board of commissioners make cuts where they only have one firefighter get out of the truck, I told them the board of commissioners didn’t make this decision – if the decision was made, it wasn’t by the board of commissioners.”
He said the couple did not want to cause anyone any trouble.
“The message they related to me was please fix this so this doesn’t happen to somebody else,” Worley said.
But when the first of three fire engines arrived, only one firefighter got out of the truck. The homeowners said they later learned that the second firefighter was out of work because he had to take a “Kelly Day,” which is an unpaid day off required by the county to avoid having to pay firefighters overtime.
“These folks shared with me what took place at that fire,” Worley said. “One of our fire trucks showed up to fight that fire and only one fireman got out of that truck.”
Worley acknowledged that until he received the couple’s call last week, he wasn’t convinced the county was still putting only one firefighter on any engines. He said that while he had been informed about the staffing shortage earlier in his term — first by former chief Robert Post and then by chief Mark Melvin around April or May — he had been assured that enough part-time firefighters would be hired to cover the vacancies of full-time personnel who were sick or on vacation or in training.
“Now is when I have factual evidence that that’s not the case,” Worley said. “And whatever this problem is, whether it’s a scheduling problem or a shortage on personnel, I have now spoken to two former fire chiefs and the interim chief. This makes the third chief telling me we have a personnel shortage problem and we need to address it. And if it is at all possible, I want to resolve the problem at the next meeting.”
Worley said that on Tuesday, he also learned that in August, the county chairman had reduced the minimum staffing per shift from 25 to 23. He said he does not agree with that decision and plans to introduce a motion at the commission’s Nov. 24 meeting to address the issue.
“When I had to stand in front of these people’s house and they looked at me and said, ‘Why did the board of commissioners make cuts where they only have one firefighter get out of the truck, I told them the board of commissioners didn’t make this decision – if the decision was made, it wasn’t by the board of commissioners.”
He said the couple did not want to cause anyone any trouble.
“The message they related to me was please fix this so this doesn’t happen to somebody else,” Worley said.
1) Worley had been told twice (not once but TWICE) there was an employee shortage in the fire department. Kind-of reminds me of a child -- Stevie, don't touch the stove it's hot, you will get burned. Stevie DON'T touch the stove, it's HOT and you WILL get burned! Told you, now see - you got burned.
2) When the BOC was trying to balance the budget, the good citizens of Barrow County demanded their taxes not be raised. Go ahead cut services, but don't you DARE RAISE my taxes. The end result -- no money for fireman, no fireman to operate the equipment and if your house catches fire - IT BURNS.
Any now the poll for raise taxes to staff the fire stations is 51-49 in favor of raise taxes.
True Story: We watched a old chicken barn that was being used for storage go up in flames in 2003 (here in Barrow County off Hwy 124). The "volunteer" firemen where like the keystone cops. Two of them were arguing over who's turn it was to hold the end of the hose. Yes, you read that right. They stood there arguing over who's turn it was to hold what part of the hose while this old barn burned.
Nothing personal but I want a professionally trained fireman should I ever need one!
The thought and idea behind a volunteer fire service is a great one, however, with the current demands that are placed on this county's fire and EMS service daily, it simply is not plausible. In order to become a volunteer firefighter now in the State of Georgia an applicant has to complete a 95 hour course at the Georgia Fire Academy which is highly demanding as opposed to the one week 40 hour class that was once required. Add in the many other classes one would have to receive to deliver even a basic service to this county and your left with two or three people standing in line to become a volunteer. I know I would not take two weeks off from my job to do it. I do not disagree with your idea and yes, it does work in Jackson County though I am not sure I would use "pretty good". We had a volunteer service here and it went by the wayside due to many factors but personnel was one of the large reasons and not to mention how they were treated by the administration during the transition to a paid service. And lastly, many of the volunteer firefighters that were around back then are now riding the trucks that you and the rest of the public sees everyday, only we are now paying them for their service. I seriously doubt you would see any of them step back into that role after doing it as a career. Just my humble opinions.
Former Volunteer.