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Monday, March 10, 2008

Bay County Fire Services Looking for Volunteers

Tonight, some Bay County residents have questions about their fire protection.
One of those residents sent this email to News 13 concerning the Youngstown area.  Jody who lives in Youngstown writes:
We have a fire department here that does not respond to calls at all.  I live about two miles from the fire department.  ...Fountain and Bayou George are the only departments we can count on to save our homes around here.

So, is this really the case?  I checked into the issue regarding Youngstown fire protection and learned of a bigger need at other fire stations in the county.

It is a frightening situation...your home, property or life threatened by fire.  Firefighters can’t get on the scene soon enough.  Youngstown resident Debra Duncan says, “Oh my goodness it is enormous.  I want to have response that is immediate.”

Bay County fire officials say there are 57 career firefighters on a full-time paid status and 101 unpaid volunteers in the county.  There are six full-time career stations in Bay County and eight stations staffed by volunteers.  However, personnel may not necessarily be on duty all the time at these stations.

So, here is the question.  When a call comes in how many firefighters from Station 11 would respond to the scene of a fire?  Chief Mark Bowen heads up Bay County’s Emergency Services.  He says there are only three volunteers assigned to the Bear Creek-Youngstown station and the numbers need to be strengthened.  Looking at the numbers, Chief Bowen says, “They are down.  We need volunteers we can’t have too many volunteers.” When I asked if Bay County residents should be concerned about fire safety Chief Bowen said, “As the chief of the department I would certainly like to see more manpower, more staffing.  I want people who live closed to here to understand is they live in an all volunteer district.  So, depending on what time of day it is and depending on the circumstances, the first personnel that might arrive may be career personnel and the closet career station to this location is Bayou George.”

Chief Bowen says Bay Medical Center now supplies the only full-time emergency personnel at the Bear Creek-Youngstown station.  They are on call 24 hours a day.  The chief says the county is on the lookout now for volunteers and says, “if you want to be a volunteer and are willing to do things that it takes...then we are going to help you do that and then assign you to the closest station to your home.”

According to Chief Bowen, Bay County’s incoming volunteer firefighters undergo initial training that lasts about four months.  He also says the county provides assistance in pursuing up to an associate’s degree in fire science.  If you are interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter, call Brenda Hathaway at Bay County Fire Services...784-4076.  You must be 18 or older.


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