Fire Chief Asks County to Fund Two Part-Time Positions

March 7, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

Since its beginnings in 1975, the DeKalb County Fire Department has been completely staffed with volunteers but times have changed and fewer people are stepping up to volunteer.

For that reason, County Fire Chief Donny Green addressed the budget committee of the county commission Wednesday night asking that funds be included in next year’s budget (fiscal year 2019-20) for two shared part-time positions. No two specific individuals would get the jobs.  Available firefighters, who are trained and certified, would rotate in and out of the positions as needed and no firefighter would work more than 24 hours a week.

“What we are looking at is two part time positions. We would not identify any two specific employees. We would basically have two positions that firefighters, based on their availability, could sign up for to work either an eight hour shift or a portion of an eight hour shift. No firefighter would work more than 24 hours per week which would keep them on a part time basis.  This is what is called a shared part time position which means we could use six or eight firefighters, or however many we need, to work these two positions but it would never be any more than two positions.,” said Chief Green.

The two fire fighters would be assigned to work out of the main station on King Ridge Road, which serves as the hub of the county fire department.

“We would headquarter these people at our main station which is the central station where we have a vehicle extrication unit, engine, and tanker truck. That station responds to the bulk of our calls and most of our maintenance goes on there,”

Chief Green said there is plenty of work available to keep two people busy.

“There is no doubt whatsoever that we can keep two people busy washing trucks, hose, turnout gear, and running errands. I just had two guys go to Mississippi to pick up the new truck for Temperance Hall and they spent 14 hours on the road and took off work to go do it. There are all kinds of day to day operational maintenance things that have to be done. We’re getting a lot of it done right now by sacrificing our personal time but there is a lot of things that we could be doing that we are not getting done. Our call volume last year was 358 plus we have to take care of the gear for 65 firefighters and 18 vehicles and other equipment to maintain and keep clean so we could do a lot better job if we had two people that I could assign those things to day to day,” said Chief Green.

Two people already at the main station would also be handy when an emergency call comes in.

“If we get a call to a vehicle extrication where somebody is trapped in a vehicle, if I have two guys at the station, we’re talking about rolling out in about 30 seconds as opposed to maybe 10 minutes if we have to wait on volunteers leaving their jobs and driving to the main station. Thirty seconds versus 10 minutes makes a lot of difference especially if someone is trapped in a vehicle,” said Chief Green.

Although the fire department is staffed with dedicated volunteers, Chief Green said their having to work and meet family obligations often times prevents them from being able to respond.

“We have had three structure fires since Friday and I have had to call in the entire county manpower to come to a particular community where we used to have to call in maybe two or three stations. We used to have enough manpower during the day to do this but I don’t have that now and sometimes even at night it’s a problem. We had a call Sunday night and it was snowing and I had to bring in people from Johnson Chapel and Liberty to come and help us because we didn’t have enough people on the scene,” said Chief Green.

“We have been staffed 100% by volunteers since 1975 and we take pride in that but things have changed in our world. Back then we had people on farms or who worked locally and were their own boss and could leave and go on a call or do maintenance on a truck. We don’t have that anymore. We don’t have as many farmers today,” he continued.

“ Through the week Monday through Friday a large percentage of my volunteers work out of town or in industries here that don’t let them leave work like they used to. The way the family unit is structured today is different too with more people having to work to make a living. Husbands and wives work and someone has to take care of the kids. All of that affects the availability of volunteers,” Green said.

The shared part time positions would cost the county about $68,640 per year.

“I try to make it a point not to ask for things I don’t need. I am sincere when I say we need these positions. I wish I didn’t have to ask for them but I have nightmares when some of the guys around during the day time have to leave town to go on business or something. I’m afraid of us not being able to roll out a truck on a call when they are gone. I take ownership for part of that but it’s your (county budget committee) ownership too. This is your fire department and if you want the coverage or if you can live with the risk of not having enough people available to respond I understand but it’s my job to tell you what the risk is. I didn’t ask for four positions hoping to get two. I asked for what we needed and its the basic minimum,” said Chief Green.

The budget committee has taken no action yet. It is just beginning preparations for the 2019-20 budget.

Meanwhile, Chief Green is asking that funds be allocated in the new budget to upgrade and add restrooms to three existing fire halls.

“We met with the emergency services committee a month ago and let them know we would be coming to you (budget committee) with a request for funding to address building maintenance. We have some buildings that are really old. They were built in 1975 and have had very minimal maintenance on them over the years. We are now starting to pay the price  for that. We were able to do some upgrades recently to the Temperance Hall station but we have other stations that need some TLC (Tender Loving Care) that are in pretty bad shape. The emergency services committee suggested that we look at doing these fire halls a few at a time picking out two or three that need it most so we identified the Johnson Chapel, Blue Springs, and Keltonburg stations. We just put a roof on the Keltonburg fire hall. It is in pretty good shape but it needs some painting and cosmetic work to get it up to date. The other two fire halls are in pretty bad shape and neither of them have restrooms. We ask that funds be budgeted to add unisex restrooms  including a sink and toilet in each of these three fire halls,” said Chief Green.

He added that the county has budgeted $36,100 to meet a 5% local match for Assistance to Firefighters Grants which if approved would fund the purchase of another fire truck and related firefighting equipment.

Altogether, the fire department is seeking an additional $87,000 in new funding over the current budget year.

March 7, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BEGINS SUNDAY, MARCH 10 AT 2 A.M. SPRING FORWARD THIS WEEKEND!

March 7, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A birthday bash is scheduled Saturday for two World War II veterans, and twin brothers, who will be celebrating their 93rd year.

The big birthday barbeque for Edward and Edsel Frazier will be held at the Smithville First Baptist Church from 1- 3 p.m. and everyone is invited and while cards are okay the only gift they want is for you to be there. However, you may make a donation to the American Legion Post #122 to support a young man at Boys State.

Edward and Edsel were born to Hassie and Robert Lee Frazier on Dry Creek in DeKalb County on March 13, 1926.

The Frazier brother twins were inducted at Camp Forrest, Tennessee during World War II at 18 years of age. Edward and Edsel both started in the 99th Army Infantry Division and served with General Hodges and General George Patton while crossing the Blue Danube. The twins walked across the bridge at the landing of Normandy in the icy cold water. Their boots were frozen along with the rest of them.

Both have stories about the extreme weather conditions and surviving the war with Edward even going into an old farm house to stay next to a cow to try and get warm. Edward still credits that cow with saving his life after he was separated from the others in his platoon. The other soldiers in the company that night thought he was dead when he turned up missing, but had a good laugh when he finally caught up. These are a few of the memories they love to share, but there were many memories too painful to relay. Edward always talks about seeing so much hunger and to this day has trouble seeing people throw their food away wastefully. Both of the guys couldn’t wait to get back to their home state of Tennessee after the war and to roam in the hills of Dry Creek where they were both born.

Their Rank: Private 1st Class; Edward was recommended for Master Sergeant at the end of the war, but was too anxious to return home to stay in the army. He recalls the joy when told the war was over and everyone was returning home.

Edward and Edsel earned various medals including two battle stars, I Eastern Rhine, 1 European Theatre-medals, along with other awards. During the war, Edsel was hospitalized while Edward’s troop moved on so the guys were separated briefly during the war. The men were discharged in Fort Logan, Colorado in Denver at the end of the war.

A reporter talked to the guys and Edward laughingly told him that they were named by their father who loved his old Model T so much he named them after the Ford’s, Henry Edsel and Henry Edward. This was picked up by the AP Wire and sent all across the U.S. about the Ford Twins.

Through the years, the guys have both contributed much to the community with Edward being active in politics and serving on numerous county committees as well as being elected Mayor of Smithville for two terms. Edsel was a U.S. Postal employee and retired from that position and is also a member of the Shriners. Both have played key positions with their local VFW and American Legion organizations with Edward serving as Commander for many years.

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