County needing volunteer firefighters

Jul. 6—There are three firefighters on duty at Cumberland County's main fire station on any given day. While on duty for their 24-hour shift, they're responsible for fire protection and other emergency services across the 685 square miles of the county,

They depend on a force of 107 volunteer firefighters.

"Back in the day, we had a lot of volunteers," said Capt. Mike Findley with the Cumberland County Fire Department. "When we do get a call — say in Westel — it's so far from here ... Fires are quicker. We need to be quicker."

He said there's a need in each of the county's nine fire districts. More volunteers increases the chance that the volunteers have different schedules and can respond at different times.

"The county's growing, and as it grows, that means more people which means more houses, more fires, more wrecks — more everything," Findley said, noting firefighters respond to a variety of emergencies, from structure fires to vehicle extrication and assisting Emergency Medical Services and CPR in progress.

But when it comes to fire response, time is critical. The faster the fire department can respond, the more likely they can save some of the property. That's one of the things the Insurance Services Office fire suppression rating — or ISO — considers.

Other factors include location of fire hydrants or water source, emergency communication, fire department equipment and staffing, location of fire stations and community fire prevention efforts.

ISO assigns a rating from 1-9. The lower the ISO rating for an area, the lower premium charged to homeowners, Findley said.

Cumberland County currently has a split rating of 5-5y — with 5y for areas without a fire hydrant. Areas more than 5 miles from a fire station may be rated higher than other areas of the county.

The department has 11 full-time firefighters, including Chief Trever Kerley. There are also 17 part-time firefighters who work 12-hour shifts. But Findley said the part-time firefighters also have full-time jobs.

"They try to work on their days off, so we don't have a 12-hour part-time in here every day," he said.

Cumberland County Fire Chief Trevor Kerley had sought additional staffing for the department to supplement the full-time staff and help spread the department out in the county.

The Tansi fire district has a high volume of calls. That could be a potential station to staff with additional personnel. The other stations that have a high number of calls are Mayland and Westel.

"They are the three busiest stations we have and it gets us in all four directions," Kerley told the Cumberland County budget panel. "That gets us spread out, but we'll be running more."

He requested three additional part-time firefighters in the upcoming budget, but the county is holding off on adding personnel this coming year.

That makes the need for more volunteer firefighters critical, Findley said.

Findley pointed to an April 11 fire that involved 20 vehicles. It took 5,000 gallons of water. Only two volunteer firefighters responded to the Tuesday afternoon fire to assist the three full-time firefighters on duty.

He made a social media post and public service announcements have yielded three new volunteers.

But the need continues, Findley said. Each district could accommodate as many as 24 volunteers, he said. The more volunteers increases the likelihood that a volunteer will be available to respond to fires or other emergencies in the district around the clock.

The process begins with a call to the Cumberland County Fire Department, 931-484-8448 or stopping by 1391 Livingston Rd.

From there, the potential volunteers are interviewed by members of the volunteer fire station they would be joining and the district will vote on bringing the new volunteer into the organization.

"Then they send the new recruit back to us," Findley said.

They must pass an agility test. This timed test ensures the volunteers are able to handle the physical requirements of being a volunteer fire fighter. It includes crawling the wall of the fire training tower, carrying a wound-up hose a specified distance, swinging and dragging a charged hose and taking a ladder off the truck and putting it back on — all while wearing the turnout gear and a self-contained breathing apparatus. They have seven minutes to complete all the tasks, but Findley said most people complete it in 4.5-6.5 minutes.

With that complete, the volunteers are "rookies." They spend time with each of the three shifts of the full-time firefighters so that they can get to know the other firefighters and learn about the fire trucks and various tools kept on the trucks.

The county pays for the volunteer to attend Rookie School. When they pass that, they can attend the Tennessee Fire Academy where they have a live fire exercise and take a written exam to become a certified firefighter, level 1.

That is also paid for by the county, along with the turnout gear necessary to respond to the scene of a fire.

Certified firefighters count toward the county's fire response for ISO ratings. However, it takes three volunteers on a scene to count as one paid firefighter under the ISO formula.

"It's the same certification we've got. They do the same job we do," Findley said. "It's just they have volunteer in front of it. That makes the difference on ISO."

Volunteers can progress to a level 2 certification, also paid for by the county.

Anyone interested in learning more about becoming a volunteer firefighter may call 931-484-8448.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.