RED SPRINGS — The Red Springs Volunteer Fire Department is looking to a neighboring fire station for help after the department was de-certified this week.
The Red Springs Fire Department was de-certified Tuesday after state inspectors determined it did not have a sufficient number of firefighters, an issue that has lingered for a year.
Town Manager James Bennett said the town hopes to merge the department with nearby Shannon’s, which potentially could save residents money on insurance.
“This department has a level 5 and we have a level 6, so this would actually decrease the fire insurance for our residents,” Mayor John McNeill said. “Our goal is to protect our citizens and their fire insurance costs. That will be accomplished by the merger.”
The Office of the State Fire Marshal looks at a fire department’s organization, personnel, training, records and communications when assigning a rating on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best and 10 the worst. Homeowners’ insurance premiums are based at least in part on the local fire department’s rating.
McNeill said rumors had circulated that the department’s rating had dropped to 10, but the state de-certified because it did not have a minimum of 22 certified firemen that is required by the state. Bennett said Tuesday the department does have 22 trained firemen, but that information was not provided to an inspector during a surprise visit in January.
On Wednesday, Bennett met with representatives of the State Fire Marshal’s Office who said two of the department’s firemen were ineligible because they transferred from a department that was also on probation.
The personnel issue was one of the seven infractions the department received in January 2015, when it was placed on probation for a year.
That inspection came at a tumultuous time for the department. The previous chief and assistant chief were dismissed after publicly saying they would not respond to fire calls, according to McNeill. That happened after the town tried to restrict the number of volunteer fire fighters to calls within the town as a cost-saving measure. Firefighters are reimbursed a small amount for responding.
“We had an absolute mess going on,” McNeill said. “The town asked long-time fireman John Ammons if he would come in and try to get it corrected as the new chief.”
Ammons took over as the department’s chief in late January 2015 after the first inspection was completed. McNeill said that he and staff had worked hard to correct the problems.
McNeill said that the department plans to train more firemen even as it works toward the merger.
