NBC29Fire Department Tension in Albemarle

Tension is growing between paid firefighters and volunteers in Albemarle County. The tension stems from a proposal to put both groups under one head boss. 

At Wednesday night's meeting you could hear phrases such as   "slap in the face" and "caught off guard" when talking about this idea for Albemarle County firefighters. For that reason, some want to stop the proposal before it gets off the ground.

"We're going to have to have a blended system of both volunteers and paid people.  This does not diminish the value of either one of those.  Both are just as important," voiced Albemarle County Supervisor Ken Boyd.

Currently, the county has two types of firefighters: paid and volunteer. Those being paid answer to Chief Dan Eggleston while volunteers report to the chief at their station. In the next six months, supervisors want to bring both groups together under one boss to provide better coverage.

Eggleston explained, "Our fire - rescue system has evolved quite a bit over the last five to 10 years.  Our expectations of our citizens have changed, the demands have changed, the community has grown, it's just a naturally evolution of our system."

County supervisors want to bring both groups together under one boss in order to provide better coverage and faster response times. Chief George Stephens with the North Garden Volunteer Fire Company offered, "I think in some ways it caught some of the volunteer departments a little off guard."

Volunteer fire chiefs like Stephens say the proposal came out of left field. He thinks it's premature and would like more time to review the idea. "The volunteers are a vital part in the community and saves the taxpayers millions of dollars each year in what they give back to the community and we don't want to lose sight of that," said Stephens.

If any changes are made, there will have to be a number of meetings and public hearings to get input on the issue. County supervisors would have the final say.