By Jason Dunovant
The Roanoke Times
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. — Nationwide, the number of volunteer rescue squad members has been steadily declining for more than a decade while call volume continually increases. With fewer volunteers, localities such as Franklin County are forced to hire staff to pick up the slack.
Emergency medical services, or EMS, is where Franklin County has suffered the most losses in volunteers over the years. In the past, the county had a volunteer rescue squad that operated along with each fire department in the county. Today, volunteer squads in Scruggs and Red Valley are the only two remaining in operation.
Due to the loss in volunteers for EMS services, the county has been forced to steadily increase its paid staff. Franklin County Fire and EMS Chief Mike Fowler said the county currently employs nearly 60 paid EMS staff.
“That number about 30 years ago was zero,” Fowler said.
Billy Ferguson was the first paid paramedic in Franklin County. He was hired in 1990 to help improve response times for rescue departments that were already starting to see a reduction in volunteers.
He remained with the county for another 33 years in public safety. He retired last year after spending six years as the county’s fire and EMS chief.
Ferguson said the decline in EMS volunteers is due to multiple factors in Franklin County. Those factors have had a snowball effect on volunteer rescue departments. He said once one stops providing service, it would put an increased burden on surrounding departments that eventually ended up shutting down.
A significant increase in calls for service has put added strain on volunteers. A growing number of those calls in recent years are what Ferguson referred to as “public service calls” where people may need assistance, but it is not an emergency. Those calls include issues such as someone needing help getting into bed or taking their medicine.
“Back in 1990 we may run three or four calls a day. Now it is not unusual to run 30 a day,” Ferguson said.
Another concern is the time it takes to respond to calls. EMS crews in the past only had to carry patients to Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital in Rocky Mount. Ferguson said paramedics now have to carry more than half of their patients to hospitals in Roanoke because some services are not available at the Rocky Mount hospital. That can take volunteer EMS up to two hours for a service call.
Ferguson said, in the past, employers would allow a member of their staff to volunteer for a rescue squad. With the long times away for calls, that is less likely.
Despite the challenges, Red Valley Volunteer Rescue Capt. Toby Hodges currently has more than 20 volunteers. He said there are people in the community willing to volunteer, the trick is finding them and showing them what they are missing out on.
“Once you do it, you get the love for helping somebody,” Hodges said.
Become a volunteer for the rescue squad does take some training. Hodges said volunteers have to take a CPR course and an Emergency Vehicle Operator Course to join. To become an EMT, volunteers would have to attend a course that takes four to six months to complete. To become a paramedic, course work could take multiple years.
Most EMTs or paramedics take paid jobs due to the time and cost for their education, but several are still willing to volunteer. Hodges said many of the volunteers on his staff work in surrounding localities and volunteer in Franklin County during their off time.
Due to the Virginia Fair Labor and Standards Act, an individual cannot volunteer for the same locality that also employs them.
Without the assistance in the county from volunteer firefighters and EMS, Fowler said he would need to more than triple the amount of paid staff in the county. That would put an increased strain on the county’s budget that has already seen a slow increase in paid staff due to needs.
“It is monumentally important,” Fowler said of the need for volunteers. “It would cripple the county if we didn’t have it.”
All paid EMS staff for Franklin County also have the training necessary to be firefighters and do respond to those calls, Fowler said. That helps to provide assistance to local volunteer fire departments that have seen some reductions in recruitment as well in recent years.
Franklin County Public Safety currently has 163 active volunteers. That number is down from 176 last year, according to Fowler.
While the reduction in volunteer firefighters may not be as grim as on the EMS side, Rocky Mount and Franklin County currently have efforts underway to bolster their numbers. A firefighter class is currently being held, hosted by Franklin County Public Safety and the Rocky Mount Fire Department, that is training 29 recruits eager to join one of the county’s firefighting crews.
It is part of a new approach to recruiting that Rocky Mount Fire Department Chief Justin Woodrow and Assistant Chief Brad Basham have instituted in the past few years. The approach has helped grow the numbers at the town’s department from 35 volunteers a few years ago to nearly 50 today.
“We’ve had to adapt with the times,” Woodrow said. “We believe there is a place for everybody.”
They understand that some people may be hesitant about some aspects of being a firefighter, whether it be the danger or the occasional long hours on a call. Woodrow said he encourages volunteers to give what they are able in terms of commitment.
Woodrow said that in the past anyone signing up to be a volunteer firefighter was often expected to commit most of their free time to answering calls and even occasionally running into burning buildings. He understands that people may be willing to help, but can’t contribute the time or may be hesitant to fight a fire up close.
“Back then there was no in between,” Basham said. “You either did all of it or nothing.”
The RMFD started an engineer program for anyone interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter who may have concerns about going into a burning buildings. Engineer volunteers run the equipment while other firefighters go inside.
A student program also was started in an effort to encourage young people to join and give some of their free time assisting. Basham said it was an idea they had after a the department had spent hours fighting a fire.
Basham reached out to some area high schoolers to help with the cleanup after the fire had been put out by firefighters. He said some of them enjoyed the job and wanted to help out more.
Once some of the students started wearing shirts sporting the RMFD logo on them to school, Basham said they received even more interest.
Once someone has joined in any capacity, whether as a student or an engineer, Woodrow said many will stay on for years and even expand their role. He said many who started out as engineers later sign up for expanded roles and eventually take the firefighter course. He has even seen fathers who join after their son joins as a student volunteer.
“Once they feel the reward of giving, they are hooked,” Woodrow said.
Woodrow said their approach to recruiting is being used in several other fire departments around the county as well. It is something they hope will start to reinforce the county’s overall number of volunteers.
“There is a place on a volunteer fire department for anyone who wants to volunteer,” Woodrow said.
Mecayla Gray of Rocky Mount is one of the new recruits currently taking the firefighter course. The 22-year-old just returned from college and was looking for something that would “push her to be better.”
She is currently a volunteer for the Boones Mill Fire Department. She said the firefighter course will help her as a volunteer. She has also taken an EMT course.
“I wanted to do something for the county,” Gray said. “I love volunteering.”
Carter Alexander of Rocky Mount is one of the youngest taking the course at 18. He has been a member of the Rocky Mount Fire Department since he was 16.
Alexander said he wants to continue to be an asset to the department. He wants to be able to provide the help people need in an emergency.
“I want to be there for people on their worst day,” Alexander said.
Several of the volunteers currently in the firefighting course will be joining the Rocky Mount department. The RMFD works together with the multiple volunteer departments throughout the county.
The Rocky Mount department is funded by the town of Rocky Mount while the county departments are provided funding through Franklin County Public Safety. Franklin County also provides some funding for the Rocky Mount department as more than 60% of the calls the department responds to are outside the town.
The need for volunteer firefighters and EMTS was made even more apparent earlier this year with multiple natural disasters that impacted Franklin County. Volunteer crews battled a 600-acre wildfire in Callaway in January and a significant winter storm that covered much of the county in ice just a few weeks later in February.
Fowler said the fire would have likely burned more than 1,000 acres if it wasn’t for the tireless work of volunteers as well as paid staff who helped. He also praised the many people in the community who provided food as well a shelter for operations provided by Monte Vista Church of the Brethren.
Volunteers were also needed during the early February winter storm that coated the county in ice, which resulted in trees falling onto roadways and power lines. Volunteer firefighters assisted the Virginia Department of Transportation and Appalachian Power Co. in clearing trees while continuing to respond to a high volume of emergency calls in the days following the storm.
While their benefits in recent months have been apparent, many volunteers would like to see additional funding to support their efforts. Ferguson said volunteer departments are no longer able to afford much of their equipment solely on their own fundraising efforts and need additional assistance from the town and county.
Many of the vehicle and equipment costs have grown exorbitantly in recent years. Franklin County does pay the cost for most of the vehicles used by volunteer fire and rescue departments, but the increased cost has put a strain on the county budget.
The average cost for a fire truck a little more than a decade ago was $500,000. Today, that same truck will cost between $1 million and $2 million.
The costs of equipment has increased as well. Ferguson said volunteer departments are required to purchase the necessary equipment for vehicles and for volunteers. Some protective gear necessary for firefighters can cost in excess of $10,000, he said.
“It’s impossible to do fundraisers to get that amount of money for that type of equipment,” Ferguson said.
Franklin County does provide significant funding for volunteer departments in addition to purchasing vehicles. Fowler said the county budgeted more than $3 million in funding for volunteers in 2024.
In addition to new vehicles, that funding went to insurance and fuel costs for vehicles as well as discretionary funds for each department that can be used to purchase equipment. Volunteers are also given a stipend of $12 for each call they respond to.
While the Rocky Mount Fire Department receives funding from the town and county, Woodrow said additional funding is always needed. Even if funding is lacking, he said volunteers will find a way to make due with what they have to save lives.
“No matter what you give us or don’t give us, we get the job done,” Woodrow said.
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