Emergency Management in Rockbridge County

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Playing the fundraising game

Volunteer squads forced to 'get creative' in order to make ends meet

By Georgina Coolidge

Little girls with mile-wide smiles and dozens of proud relatives armed with cameras are not the typical crowd at a fire station.

But on May 16, contestants in the Little Miss Effinger Fire Chief beauty pageant filled the Effinger fire house to help raise money for the volunteer fire and rescue squads that serve the small, tight-knit community. The pageant was part of a two-week long carnival put on by the Effinger Fire and Rescue squads.

For the 17 volunteer fire and rescue squads throughout Rockbridge County, Lexington and Buena Vista, the fundraising game never ends. Men and women who spend their nights treating accident victims or scrambling to a house fire, and their weekends going to training workshops, also organize bake sales, cake walks and even beauty pageants.

County evaluates recommendations

In June 2007, an independent analyst completed a study of the fire and rescue services in the Rockbridge area that included several recommendations for ways the area, including the two cities and the county, could improve services.

The top two recommendations from the study were to centralize the fire and rescue services in the county and to hire paid workers to supplement volunteer services.

Albert "Buster" Lewis, the Walkers Creek representative on the Board of Supervisors, said the Board sees fire and rescue as a priority and has taken on the task of reviewing the study and its recommendations.

Lewis said he would like to form a regional fire and rescue commission in the next few months that would review, evaluate and develop recommendations for the Board based on the analysis.

"There is already some resistance due to the assumption that the fire departments are going to be told how to run their departments," Lewis said.

But in order to create the most effective and efficient system, he said, everyone has to be on board and involved in the process.

Some of the recommendations in particular that Lewis and the board want the commission to look at are the possibility of creating a Regional Department of Emergency Fire and Rescue Services for Lexington, Buena Vista and Rockbridge County; developing contractual agreements between volunteer squads and the county that lay out what duties are expected in return for funding; and the possibility of implementing a "soft billing" system for insurance companies to pay for services provided.

A soft billing system would charge insurance companies for such services as ambulance trips, but would allow departments to write off charges to individuals without insurance.

Lewis said that such a system would allow departments to make enough money to cover most of their costs. Doing so would free up money the county would normally give the departments for operating expenses and to help pay for capital expenditures like new trucks and buildings.

"The facts of life in the 21st century are that the way the system works is that you bill insurance companies for ambulance [trips] and rescue services," Lewis said. "It's a no-brainer, and not to do this is short-sighted."

The board has not taken any formal position on the recommendations from the analysis.

One of the most controversial of the consultant's recommendations is that the area move to paid fire and rescue workers. Currently, 16 of the 17 fire and rescue squads in the area are entirely volunteer.

Only the Lexington rescue squad has paid personnel between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The South River Fire Department in Fairfield has put in a request to the Board of Supervisors for two paid people during the daytime. when volunteers are most difficult to come by.

Lewis estimated that a paid fire fighter could cost roughly $50,000 a year in salary and benefits. He said the board has postponed a decision on that request until the fire-rescue commission can be formed and can begin discussing the recommendations.

"You've got to do bingo, you've got to do standing in the streets,you have to do cake walks, everything that you can do," said Buena Vista Fire Chief Tommy Keiser. "And that takes time away from your family and you have to do that in order to pay for nice equipment, but then yet you have to answer calls, too."

Because their local governments often don't give fire and rescue workers enough money to cover operating expenses, purchase new equipment and build new facilities, they need the extra cash to fill in the gaps. At Effinger, for example, the fire and rescue squads hope to raise an additional $50,000 to $60,000, said Fire Chief J.D. Clemmer.

Extra expenses can add up quickly. The most basic fire engine, for example, starts at $500,000 and needs to be replaced every 25 years. Other necessary equipment like boots and jackets can run several thousand dollars per volunteer. Clemmer said his people do some type of fundraising almost every weekend.

During fiscal year 2006-2007, the county supervisors spent approximately $695,000 on 11 fire departments -- about $63,000 each -- and $478,000 on six rescue squads -- about $80,000 each. Those amounts are fairly consistent with the board's spending since 2002. Those allocations include Buena Vista and Lexington because of a joint operating agreement that requires those city's squads to respond to calls in certain parts of Rockbridge County.

It's not enough, though. Each rescue squad requested $116,000 for the current year, so it will have to make do with roughly $40,000 less than asked for.

Along with the money departments and squads raise through fundraising efforts, many squads apply for grants through various state and national agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. Due to changes in the grant process, multiple municipalities and localities must now apply for grants together.

Lexington Police Chief Steve Crowder said that wasn't a problem for Lexington, Buena Vista and Rockbridge County because of the close relationship he has with Buena Vista Police Chief A.J. Panebianco and Rockbridge County Emergency Management Coordinator Robert Foresman. Panebianco and Crowder serve as their cities' emergency management coordinators.

In Glasgow, Rescue Squad Captain Robert Hickman said his group has gotten grants from state agencies for communication upgrades and new vehicles. But Foresman said 90 to 95 percent of the grants that come across his desk don't apply to Rockbridge County because they are marked for urban or suburban locations.

This year, Foresman said, his office has helped different departments receive $5,000 grants for computer system upgrades. The grant application process, Foresman said, is sometimes tedious and usually requires a lot paperwork, making it a time-consuming process. He said that makes it hard for many departments and stations to apply for grants.

Until the county supervisors decide to increase funding, squads across the area will continue to fill in the gaps with massive fundraising efforts. And they do it one pie sale, carnival and dance at a time. For the past several years, Clemmer said, the Effinger Carnival has cleared more than $20,000 each year.

In addition to their fully trained and certified rescue volunteers, the Glasgow Rescue Squad has an auxiliary group with about 20 volunteers who focus entirely on fundraising events for the squad. Robert Hickman, Glasgow rescue squad captain, said on average his group does at least one fundraising event a month, and during the spring and summer months, members do something almost every weekend to raise money.

Although all the fundraising requires a lot of time and planning, Clemmer said there isn't any place he'd rather be or anything else he'd rather be doing.

"This is my life," Clemmer said. "My family is here."

Click above to see photos from the
Little Miss Effinger Fire Chief beauty pageant
and the Women-less Beauty Pageant, both
held at the Effinger Carnival.