This important story by Allison Wrabel with the Daily Progress is a must-read. Seriously, click through, and read the whole thing. The FB conversation at RealCrozet is pretty good, too.
“As it faces a dearth of volunteers and an increased number of missed calls, another Albemarle volunteer fire station is asking the county to send help.
The Crozet Volunteer Fire Department has asked Albemarle County Fire Rescue to provide weekday staffing for its station, citing a lack of available volunteers and an increased number of “scratched” calls, where the station does not respond or arrives late.
CVFD Chief Gary Dillon said that when the department scratches calls, it is not meeting the community’s expectations.
“They expect when they call 911 that a firetruck’s going to show up, and we would prefer that when they’re right down the road from us and they call 911, a Crozet firetruck shows up and not one from another station somewhere,” he said. “While we’re glad to have [help from other stations], the quicker response is from right here, and that just wasn’t happening.”
At an all-member meeting earlier this year, CVFD volunteers were supportive of a plan to ask for paid staff to come in.
If CVFD gets paid staff for its daytime shifts, only two fire stations and one rescue station in Albemarle will remain all-volunteer — North Garden Volunteer Fire Company, Scottsville Volunteer Fire Department and Western Albemarle Rescue Squad.”
