The county is reevaluating the fire and rescue system to see what can be done to better structure volunteer and career fire companies.
According to a release, the county has greatly relied on volunteer fire and rescue companies in the past.
More on the history of the volunteer fire companies, according to a release:
Prince William County has a proud tradition and long standing reliance upon volunteer fire and rescue companies helping to protect the residents of our community. Today, fire and rescue calls for service are answered by a combination system of career staff employed by the Department of Fire and Rescue and volunteers working together to protect citizens and property in the County.
The selfless commitment of volunteers, who provide invaluable fire and rescue coverage on evenings and weekends, greatly reduces the cost that would otherwise be borne by taxpayers in order to provide adequate staffing. This combination system is managed through the Fire and Rescue Association (FRA), which is a collaborative organization comprised of volunteer company fire chiefs and the chief and selected staff of the Department of Fire and Rescue.
But the reliance upon volunteer fire companies may need to change, due to changing public safety needs and the size of Prince William County.
“The County has grown substantially in population over the recent decades. This growth has generated an increase in the number of calls for fire and rescue service. At the same time, the nature of the service demands has increased in complexity and has required greater attention to regional planning and response readiness… Unfortunately, this evolution has placed significantly greater demands on volunteers. Some volunteer companies are having difficulty maintaining adequate staffing. Anecdotally, we are told that the training requirements for volunteers are so significant that once a volunteer is properly and fully trained, they are “plucked” by career fire departments throughout the region,” stated a release.
These challenges – and some others – resulted in two Prince William volunteer departments, the Coles Volunteer Fire Department, and the Evergreen Volunteer Fire Department, to merge with the career Department of Fire and Rescue, according to a release.
To assess if more merges like this need to occur in Prince William, a subcommittee comprised of volunteer chiefs, and members of the Department of Fire and Rescue has been created to “examine the current system and provide recommendations to the FRA and ultimately to the Board of County Supervisors,” states a release.
The subcommittee will meet on Thursday evenings over the next several months to talk about solutions, and work to create a final recommendation on how to proceed by September 2016.
Residents, career and volunteer fire and rescue personnel, and other interested parties will be able to attend these meetings, according to a release.
For more upcoming meeting dates, click here.
