PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. – Two emergency response departments are joining forces in Pittsylvania County to save lives.
The Gretna Volunteer Fire Department and the Gretna Volunteer Rescue Squad are merging. Now, they're going to be called Gretna Fire and Rescue.
The merger has been in the works for about a year to save both volunteer departments money and improve services for people in the community. The new arrangement officially took effect July 1.
Members said they can fundraise together and make sure they have enough volunteers to answer emergency calls, especially since they'll be one of the busiest departments in the entire county.
"We worked closely together in the past anyway, but having two separate agencies didn't make as much sense as everyone coming together to unify those efforts so that we all on the same page, doing the same job, helping the same community," said Gretna Fire and Rescue Chief Chad Hogan.
Currently, there at 65 members. The department hired one paid emergency responder and is looking to hire more.