By Matt de Simone
At the November Board of Supervisors meeting a resolution was adopted by the board acknowledging the dissolution of the Read Mountain Fire & Rescue Department, Company 12, Inc. that voted to pursue dissolution earlier this year. The fire station was originally established in 1993.
Members of the organization, with some dating back to the station’s origination, were invited by the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors to be recognized for their years of service at last Tuesday’s meeting for the department’s dedication to the community over the past three decades.
“I really wanted to pause and thank them for their years of service,” Botetourt County Fire & EMS Chief Jason Ferguson said during last week’s meeting. “This station is, by far, the most visible and prominent in the community. It has always been a very active facility with people stopping by and a lot of community engagement.
“As we’ve seen numerous times throughout the years, the trials and tribulations of maintaining a volunteer membership that can consistently provide the service is always the difficult part in maintaining enough numbers.”
Photos courtesy of Botetourt Co.
Ferguson shared that all of the funds the incorporation donated to Botetourt County will go toward the services in the Read Mountain community will be expended in the use of electric extrication tools for the new fire engine that’s currently on order for that station.
“We do not want to erase the walls of Read Mountain from being what is has been,” Ferguson added. “We just want to carry forward and continue to serve the community in the best way we can.”
A plaque honoring the former incorporation’s years of service will soon be placed in the Read Mountain station’s main hallway honoring the men and women who served the Read Mountain community for the last 30 years.
Read Mountain Volunteer Chief Adam Dickerson shared with the board that he and the members who stood behind him were “proud to serve the community. We didn’t take this decision lightly. As you can imagine it was a very emotional and very difficult decision for (the incorporation) to close our doors and haul down our flag.”
Dickerson thanked the community for their support of the incorporation’s decision and shared their members will remain active in the Botetourt community.
“If you go through the amount of people that you spent time with to train to save the lives within the area it is just outstanding,” Valley District Supervisor Mac Scothorn said. “Thank you for the service that you provided. I’m looking forward to what you guys have put down and put in seed to grow further.”
The board also recognized the Fire & EMS department for receiving an award from the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), Volunteer Combination Officers Section (VCOS) for its continuous efforts to recruit and retain career and volunteer personnel.
“Obviously, with what we just went over with Read Mountain, volunteerism and the recruitment and retention of volunteers is an ever-growing challenge across the nation,” Ferguson said. “It’s about the efforts. We need to make sure that we have the things in place to recruit new folks into the organization and to retain the ones we have.”
Ferguson and Fire & EMS Recruitment and Retainment Specialist Taylor Lunsford saw an opportunity for the award through the IFAC and its subset, VCOS. The chief noted that the department has benefited from many free local programs and educational opportunities sponsored by VCOS.
Lunsford, who recently attended a VCOS Symposium in Clearwater, Fla., spoke about the award. She shared what she feels are the reasons why career and volunteer emergency workers seek to work in Botetourt County.
“We work to create an environment where people feel valued and heard,” Lunsford said. “We think ‘people first’ always. (We provide) a sturdy foundation for new members through our new orientation program this year and training. (We give) our people the right tools to recruit and encourage our personnel to be empowered when they speak about their experience as a volunteer or career member to those that they recruit.
“I couldn’t be more grateful to our personnel to help work towards best practices for recruitment and retention and to Botetourt County for championing the cause so that we can create and cultivate the programs we have in place today.”
Additionally, the board recognized employment anniversaries from Fire & EMS and other county employees. The individuals recognized at last week’s board meeting were:
5 Years – Eric Blankenship (Maintenance), Robert Hagan (Fire/EMS), Kim Hartman (Purchasing), Kayla Jones (Fire/EMS), Julie Phillips (Libraries), Justin Schmidt (Fire/EMS), and Nathan Shields (Fire/EMS)
10 Years – Chason Croom (Technology Services), Karen Dunbar (Finance), Eddie McDaniel (Registar), Amy Moyer (Commissioner of Revenue), and Nicole Pendleton (Community Development)
15 Years – David Dupree (Central Garage)
20 Years – Brian Bower (Technology Services), Gillian Deegan (Commonwealth Attorney), and Heather Gilliland (Commonwealth Attorney)
30 Years – Sharon Clark (Clerk of Circuit Court)
35 Years – Greg Hannah (Solid Waste Management)
