Rescuers in need - Amazon Web Services
Transcription
Rescuers in need - Amazon Web Services
Higdon Insurance Group 256-878-8787 Share your photos #mysandmountainlife 75 Cents | Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015 | sandmountainreporter.com OBITUARIES | A3 Joan Horton Brock, Lynward Oneal Graben, Louise Oliver, Richard Wade Sansom, Peggy Genell Webb Patriots score 71 | SPORTS | B1 Meet the true first responders | A7 Rescuers in need Top player | SPORTS | B1 Double Bridges Governor to break ground Event marks end of decades old quest to replace bridges Jay Beard [email protected] Gov. Robert Bentley is coming to Albertville, Oct. 2, for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Red Mill Double Bridges project. The project, which will cost an estimated 5.1 million, is the largest county project in Marshall County history. “Everyone will have a shovel and they will have a ceremony,” said District 4 Commissioner Jessie Swords. “This is great for Marshall County.” For Marshall County Commission Chairman, James Hutcheson, having e Reporter | Bradley Roberts Bryan Baker, of the Asbury Volunteer Fire Department, said a good pair of turnout gear could run the department $2,000 or more. See Bridge | A6 Volunteer ireighters seek funding, manpower Bradley Roberts [email protected] The Asbury Volunteer Fire Department building sits quietly, uninhabited most hours of the day, one-tenth of a mile from Asbury High School, just off of the fork in Martling Gap Road. However, when a call rings out to the 25 firemen on the VFD’s staff, sending calls to pagers, radios and through a $10 smartphone app to various android and Apple devices, the men spring into action. The doors are released to the five-bay garage housing the department’s trucks and equipment, and the volunteers roll out to answer the call. “We’ve got two registered (Emergency Medical Technicians), eight first responders and 25 total firefighters,” said Asbury Fire Chief Bryan Baker. Baker, who also runs Asbury Farm Supply, said the men arrive at Volume 60, No. 114 Arrest follows wreck Man lees earlymorning wreck Bradley Roberts [email protected] The cost to run the volunteer fire department quickly adds up. There are 17 volunteer fire departments in Marshall County, and while all are unique in their own rights, they all face one glaringly obvious problem: funding. Albertville police arrested a Boaz man over the weekend after he fled the scene of a crash. According to Assistant Police Chief Maj. Jamie Smith, police responded to a call around 4 a.m. Sunday after a car drove through an intersection at Campbell Street and Alabama 205 in Albertville, careened off the road and slammed into a power pole. Smith said the driver of the 2002 Oldsmobile Silhouette, Vincent Galimore, 38, of Boaz, left the scene of the crash as an un-named passenger remained in the front seat. See Volunteers | A5 See Wreck | A6 e Reporter | Bradley Roberts Asbury Fire Chief Bryan Baker said the department is currently surviving on donations from the community. the scene aboard a 20-yearold truck, which the department has owned for seven years, on a full tank of gas, and he said it better return to the garage after the call just as it was left. The firefighters sport a full set of turnout gear, which Baker said costs at least $2,000 for a “good pair.” GO AGGIES 256-857-7046 Albertville New Seasonal Football Hours: 11am til midnight - Friday & Saturday ayy The men unravel the hose, of which Baker said he’s had to replace seven in the past year, and often a rescue truck will arrive to the scene shortly thereafter to transport any injured residents to a local hospital — he’s minus one truck because a $387 bill to replace its brake line has put it out of commission. ~ LIVE MUSIC ~ Proud sponsor of “Country Case” Friday Night from 6-10 p.m. Thursday and Saturday $5.50 Pitchers All Day Vote in the Online Poll at www.sandmountainreporter.com Recycle this newspaper at the Albertville-Boaz Recycling Center on Sand Mountain Drive East 513 Railroad Ave. Albertville, AL Monday-Saturday 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. » Call 891-8298 for info THE REPORTER NEWS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 | PAGE A5 Volunteers www.sandmountainreporter.com Continued from Page A1 Fire Fees In the past, volunteer fire departments relied solely on fundraisers, grants and tobacco taxes to provide funding for their departments, but during the General Election in 2014, five departments allowed their communities to vote to have a mandatory $5 monthly fire protection fee tacked onto their property taxes. Of the five, four passed the fees, which will allow them to bring in an additional $15,000-$20,000 or more a year for them to provide service to their community. Retired Georgia Mountain Fireman and member of the Marshall County Association of Fire Departments and Rescue Squads Richard Lawson, said the fees are collected on Oct. 1 “This is just another line item on your tax bill,” Lawson said. “The fee is paid only on a dwelling. This is where there was a lot of confusion early on. But, it’s not something we just came up with. It’s specific with the law that it has to be a building constructed as a primary house for one or more human beings.” The departments will collect fees from all of the non-tax exempt residents in their district’s area. Brandon Brown, fire chief for Georgia Mountain Fire Department, said fees are currently being collected for his department at homes in the department’s 52-mile coverage area. He said the fees would allow them the opportunity to update needed equipment. “The basic thing they will be for is replacing trucks and equipment,” Brown said. “It will cover the basic general maintenance on the truck and its insurance. “We have three engines and a rescue truck, and it’s a constant deal. “We are lucky we’ve got some new equipment. We are better off than most.” Baker said new turnout gear is passed on to the new entries, but he said some of the men could be wearing gear anywhere from three to five years old. Currently, for Brian Walls, volunteer fire chief for Nixon Chapel, even purchasing a new truck, which he was approved for through a FEMA grant, is difficult because the department is so strapped for cash. Walls, along with three other departments, face a unique situation. Because of some confusion, four fire districts in Marshall County: Grant, Pleasant Grove, Nixon Chapel and Douglas, were unable to make the ballot for the 2014 election. “We’re going to try again for March 16,” Walls said. “We’re guesstimating we’ve got about 300 households or so that would be paying (the fees). We’ll have some exempt for that, of course.” Walls said on a good year, his department brings in roughly $15,000 a year through donations. 1-8000-COLDA DAIR www www.alabamacomfort.com ww.alaba baamaac a mfort.com acom T he children and grandchildren of e Reporter | Bradley Roberts Fuel costs eat up a huge chunk of any volunteer ire department’s budget. Another chunk is taken for equipment repairs and replacement, including hoses as shown below. “The truck and building insurance is about $6,500 a year, and only one of our trucks has full coverage,” he said. “It’s sad.” The fire fees would double the amount of money taken in by the department, and would provide similar help to the other three departments, too. “If the fire fee was to pass, it will enable us to have more up-to-date equipment and some of the guys have got turnout gear that is five and six years old,” said Douglas Fire Chief Jimmy Denson. It could also allow them to staff more volunteers, and provide and pay for the necessary training needed in Marshall County. “We have 16 (firemen), and it’s nowhere near enough,” Brown said. “It’s a dying breed.” All of the men agreed they could use more volunteers. Community help Only nine of the 17 VFDs have opted for the vote, and if the vote is passed, initiate the mandatory $5 fee. For Baker, he said he didn’t want to force his community to do something they may not want or be able to do. He didn’t want to force them to pay a fee. “We don’t want to raise our people’s taxes out here,” Baker said. “We did give them the option to do a $5 donation on their water board bill, and that’s the option to help run the fire.” Asbury also hosts multiple golf tournaments and events to act as fundraisers, and, for the time being at least, Baker said things are working just fine. “We’re doing better than we expected,” he said. “Three days ago, I had a lady walk into my store and she donated some more money. “You’ll be surprised, you run a call to another family member’s house, and then they’ll come in and give you a donation.” But Walls said the funds haven’t come as easily for his department in recent years, and hosting the fundraisers can be difficult. After all, this is all done on a volunteer basis, which makes future passing of the fees vitally important. “With volunteers being Truman and Pat Stover request the pleasure of your company at a reception in honor of their 50th Weddingg Anniversary Sunday, October 4, 2015 from 2:30 until 4:30 p.m. Old Path Independent Church Fellowship Hall 3187 Highway 205 Albertville, AL so strapped it’s hard to find time to do fundraising,” Walls said. “It’s hard enough on them to train, keep trucks maintained, and then you ask them to do a fill the boot, or cookout or something, and it’s just taking them away from their family.” The security of the income garnered by the fees would allow the firemen to rest easier at night knowing if they need to roll out and respond to a call, they are in the best possible shape to extinguish the fire and save people’s lives and ([SLUHV/LPLWSDFNSHUSHUVRQ livelihood. Walls said at times it can be a lot to ask of a few people, but it’s these few people who are helping fund a vital service in the county. “You can always count on some people to make the donations,” Walls said. “It’s by their big contributions that they pay for the coverage some of them don’t even use. “If it wasn’t for our big supporters, we really wouldn’t be able to make it.” No gifts please. Y Your ur presence p is your gift. of Guntersville