UPDATE: Here is a link to the preliminary study:
Guilford County Fire Service Study
GUILFORD COUNTY – A recommendation for consolidation of fire departments within Guilford County is causing concern with some area firefighters.
The recommendation came from a $100,000 study commissioned by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. The study suggests money and resources could be saved by combining the current independent fire districts into one agency.
The consolidation option recommends a reduction of administrative and support personnel from the individual fire districts from 68.5 to 22 positions. That reallocation of positions would reduce overall personnel by 30 people saving taxpayers $1,494,323 a year, according to the report.
“The county currently spends a significant amount of money on twenty layers of administrative oversight and support,” states the report. “Numerous chief officers and support staff are required to keep the multiple independent corporations and fire districts operating. A single fire department could eliminate much of this redundancy, permitting these precious resources to be reallocated to improved service delivery.”
The study does acknowledge difficulties associated with consolidation into a single department including issues of “turf”, concerns of tax money distribution, and perceived loss of local control.
The report also lays out recommendations to improve efficiency should the county decide to stay with it’s current fire district setup. These include adjusting the budget process and process changes within the departments.
It says even without consolidation, the departments could combine things like Wellness programs and training that they each do individually to improve efficiency.
At Kimesville Fire Department, administrators fear the recommendation of consolidation could become a reality. They say that would mean those they serve could be at risk during an emergency. They claim the initial study draft is full of errors.
“Surely, they’re not going to take that mistake-riddled document and vote on whether or not to consolidate all the volunteer fire departments into the county system,” said Gilbert Black, Kimesville Fire Chief.
County officials said the document is only a draft and would not talk about the purpose for the study. County Manager Brenda Fox declined News 2′s request for an interview on the subject.
The draft does say that neither the Kimesville Fire Department nor its fire district commission responded to the study group on what they considered “matters of public record.”
“As a result, this publicly-funded study had to be conducted without access to information directly related to how Kimesville Fire District funds have been spent or committed,” stated the study.
A public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday to seek input on county fire service. Those impacted by this study are frustrated the information in the study is not being released to the public.
“If I knew what the agenda was for this meeting, if they had stated that in the announcement, this might not even be a question. But, no one’s been forthcoming about what the meeting is about, what they hope to accomplish with it and just why they’re having it,” said John Lee Ferrell, President of Kimesville Fire Department.
The memo regarding the public meeting read as follows:
In an effort to provide the most efficient and effective fire protection possible, The Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI) group has been retained by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners to complete The Guilford County Fire Service Agency Evaluation and Emergency Services Master Plan. As part of the study and evaluation ESCI is seeking community input.
The community is invited to attend a public forum facilitated by ESCI for the purpose of providing; general input, cooperative efforts, desired service levels, customer perception of emergency services. If you should have questions please contact the Guilford County Department of Emergency Services at 336-641-7565.
888-620-3473 Toll Free
Looking forward to reading this report. Cuts, tucks, and trims certainly have their appeal when you start stacking dollar signs. More interesting to myself is the idea of right-size or best-fit fire departments and fire service systems. Like the girl and the bears in the story. Everybody wins, I think, when it’s neither too hot nor too cold. Neither too bloated nor bare of a system.
I am looking forward to the meeting. I have a few things to say and will listen to everybody. As for the Kimesville Fire District not completing the questionnaire as requested it raises questions in my mind if they are truly interested in protecting the public or if they are more concerned about protecting their “Turf.”
Consolidation has been occurring in the Guilford County Fire Service for years. Remember Guilford College Fire District, Jamestown Fire Department, Battleground Fire District, FD-14, Inc., Colfax St. 26 and the Deep River Fire District? Accept the change and move forward!
Look at those changes you said. They were taken in by City or by another bigger dept. The County will be raising Taxes and taking fire trucks away from stations and closing stations. Not to mention all the people they have to hire to be in the stations no one is talking about. But it is in the report and it is skewed.
We would appreciate it if someone could forward us a copy of the report.
The report is a “draft” and not out to the public. The county commishners havent even seen it or know about it. They have a meeting tonight that almost no one knew about till news 2 broke the story. The draft will be final tonight and sent to the commishiners for a vote on the 17th.
Very good. Thanks for the clarification.
A link to the Study has now been posted on FireNews.net.