Volunteer fire company dissolved in VA

[PoqFFEMT 6]

Prince William County Department of Fire & Rescue Service Chief Kevin McGee citing a hostile work environment has shutdown the Gainesville District Volunteer Fire Department. Chief McGee is following the direction of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors in their vote Friday to order a takeover of Gainesville’s two stations.

McGee tells STATter 911 the supervisors reacted to an audit they ordered in September and the chief’s own recommendation. The chief said he had great concern for the safety of volunteer and career firefighters along with the safety of the public if current conditions were allowed to continue. The chief said in a telephone interview he “lacked confidence in the volunteer leadership”.

Courtesy of VAFireNews

[Guest Photounit]

In reading this I expected that their station looked like this -

[

Old station

not like this

New station

I forgot to add this......

http://www.wusa9.com/news/columnist/blogs/...ssolved-in.html

Edited January 17, 2009 by Photounit

[FFPCogs 863]

All I can say after reading all the info is that it is high time that we the volunteer sector start working to "professionalize" our operations across the board and do away with old time thinking. In one of the comments someone noted that within 10 years only very rural areas will remain volunteer due to the cost of operating a fully carrer staff there. Also noted was the insight that based on our current economic situation all of the Fire Sevice's hard earned grants will start drying up. Combined these things, among others will mean the end to volunteering as it has been. It may very well come to be that volunteers will have to prove their worth by offering the same level of service as our career colleagues for less money to survive. While many do, there are enough that don't to harm the volunteer sector as a whole. And that is not just a phenomenon in VA.

Stay Safe

Cogs

ps: light the torches and bring on the pitchforks...

Edited January 17, 2009 by FFPCogs