Rural Retreat and Wythe County working on fire department issues

By NATE HUBBARD
The Wytheville Enterprise
Published: April 7, 2008

Town of Rural Retreat government officials and firefighters are hoping to see more of their concerns addressed when the latest version of Wythe County’s Fire Department and Rescue Squad Analysis is delivered next week.
After the initial draft of the analysis, dubbed an “interim report,” was released in January, town leaders felt that many important issues were missing from the study, said Rural Retreat Town Manager Raymond Matney.
“That interim report I think slighted Rural Retreat a little bit,” Matney said.
The report only specifically mentioned the Rural Retreat Volunteer Fire Department in the context of a recommendation that the firehouse be moved for safety reasons away from the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks.
But how a new building should be funded and the need for additional funds from the county for equipment and day-to-day expenses were overlooked, said Rural Retreat fire Chief Dave Evans.
“We definitely need more funding from the county,” Evans said, adding that diesel fuel cost is another area of concern. “Fire equipment is just extremely expensive.”
Evans and Matney emphasized that they don’t want to minimize the contributions they get from the county, but said statistics demonstrate their point that Rural Retreat firefighters provide a valuable service beyond town limits.
According to numbers provided by Evans, out of the 129 calls the department took in 2007, only 24 were to incidents within Rural Retreat.
On the other hand, 68 responses (including those at Wythe Raceway) were in the county, 29 were on the interstate and eight were in Smyth County.
Matney said the town receives about $26,000 annually from Wythe County for its fire department and gets no funds directly from Smyth County government. Evans said, though, that the department does get support through private donations from the United Way of Smyth County.
During the past approximately 15 years, Matney said the town has spent upward of $1 million to purchase four trucks for the department. The department also raises between $13,000 and $15,000 per year through its own fundraising efforts, Evans added.
In mid-March, Evans, Matney and other Rural Retreat government officials had a conference call with a representative from Public Safety Solutions, the Richmond-based company that is conducting the countywide study.
“We had a very good chat,” Matney said.
After their discussion, Evans and Matney said they left confident that their concerns would be included in the forthcoming final report.
County Administrator Cellell Dalton said Thursday afternoon that the county is expecting to receive an updated draft of the report on Monday, with the final version expected shortly thereafter.
Although Rural Retreat leaders found the interim report lacking important concerns, they didn’t quibble with the report’s determination that the firehouse’s location near the railroad tracks is a potential worry. The emergency services department for the town presents the same concerns as it is next door to the firehouse.
The report states that the railroad carries a high volume of hazardous materials on a daily basis, and if there were to be an accident, the two departments would be hindered in their response.
“I think it brings up a valid point if you had a derailment there,” Matney said.
“The potential is there for something to happen,” Evans concurred, although he added that the 31-year-old building otherwise adequately serves the department at this time.
The report also states that the current firehouse, which is owned by the town, needs floor repairs and improved energy efficiency.
Despite his agreement with the report’s assessments, Matney said building a new firehouse is not a feasible option at this point.
“It’s a preliminary thing,” he said. “I don’t think the town of Rural Retreat is in the position to build a new fire station.”
Dalton said in an e-mail message that the county will use the final report to determine where best to allocate funds.
“The purpose of the report is to look at how Fire and Rescue service are provided in the County, to obtain an in depth look at the equipment and age of equipment, does each department have the proper equipment and if not what does each need, a replacement schedule for the equipment [and] are they properly trained, are they adequately funded and if not adequately what are avenues to provide adequate funding,” his message stated.
With the report having potential long-term influences on how county funds are allocated, Matney said it’s crucial that the town’s concerns are addressed – even if they may be in areas that can’t be tackled immediately.
“It might take 20 years to address all these needs, but they need to be included in this report,” he said.
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 228-6611 or .