Looking back at the pre-history of Emerald Isle’s municipal fire department, which started operation on May 1, 1987, and the opposition during March and April of that year from members of the volunteer fire and rescue department and some of the community, after plans to start the department were announced.
Daily_News (Jacksonville, NC)_1987_03_13_1
By ELIZABETH BIRO Daily News Staff
EMERALD ISLE — Members of the Emerald Isle Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department will picket Town Hall today in opposition to the town’s intended takeover of the department.
The Board of Commissioners is scheduled to discuss creation of a town-operated fire department as recommended by the North Carolina League of Municipalities at 2 p.m. today. Takeover of the rescue unit may also be considered
A risk management survey prepared in September by the League’s Risk Management Services section advises the town that since it has no control over the fire and rescue departments, it has no means of requiring the units to hold adequate insurance policies. “The town is not aware whether or not insurance is provided on vehicles, the boat or medical malpractice on the EMTs,” the survey states.
‘That’s because they never asked,” said Fire Chief George Foster. He and the department’s 31 volunteers said they are mostly upset because the proposal has been “sprung” on them and the study does not take into consideration the fire department’s insurance and safety policies.
“The only qualm I have is that they did not contact us. We would have worked with them. We would have been happy to,”’ Foster said.
Assistant fire and rescue chief Mary Metzler agreed. “‘We had already talked about building up (the department), but let’s face it we don’t have a whole lot of fire calls, but we would have agreed to work (with the town) gradually to build up as the population increases,’ she said.
According to Harvey Mathias, a spokesman at the League of Municipalities Risk Management Service section, representatives from the section will meet with town officials, discuss insurance coverage and make recommendations from there.
Foster and Metzler questioned the study’s claims. They said that although EMTs may operate in North Carolina without malpractice insurance, there has been a $1 million policy on every rescue volunteer in the department for the past three years. Rescue vehicles are insured according to state law, but there is also a $1 million policy on every rescue vehicle, they said. The rescue boat isn’t insured, but plans call for it to be insured when warmer weather arrives, Foster said.
The fire trucks are owned by the town, but fire volunteers are insured, Foster said.
Daily_News (Jacksonville, NC)_1987_03_14_1
By ELIZABETH BIRO Daily News Staff
EMERALD ISLE — Emerald Isle Fire and Rescue Department volunteers say they will walk off the job May 1 when a town-operated fire department takes over.
In a 41 vote Friday, the Board of Commissioners decided to take control of the fire department and enter into a separate contract for rescue services.
About 110 angry residents attended the meeting to protest the move.
A fire chief and five firefighters will be hired to man the department. Volunteers will supplement the unit.
Commissioner Walt Gaskins voted against the motion, saying he believed a town-operated department was unnecessary and a waste of money.
While town officials said they hope volunteers remain or apply for jobs in the new department, those volunteers, including Chief George Foster, said they will do neither.
“Most of us feel like going today,” said volunteer Jerome Weinburger.
“I will not not apply for the chief’s job because I will not work for (town administrator) Wade Horne,” Foster said.
Foster said volunteers will hear the town’s offer concerning the rescue unit’s operations, which is also housed in the fire department building. Eleven of 31 department volunteers staff the rescue unit.
The board said its actions came on the advice of the North Carolina League of Municipalities, which suggested the town might face severe losses in the event of a fire-related lawsuit because the governing body had no control over insurance coverage on fire and rescue volunteers.
However, some fire and rescue volunteers said they believe the action actually resulted from the department’s outspokeness concerning the firing of Police Sgt. Ronald Dunn last year.
Dunn was eventually rehired and now continues to serve on the force, but volunteers say the town has not forgotten. Dunn is also a fire and rescue volunteer.
Town Administrator Wade Horne denied that the board was trying to “‘demean or degrade’’ anyone. “There are a lot of stories circulating that are entirely false. People think we are doing this to hurt people. That’s ridiculous. We’re simply covering ourselves,” he said.
“This is not something this board invented. We are simply eliminating a liability identified by an outside contractor,” he said.
The town’s decision is based on a study done by the league’s Risk Management Services section.
The study was done at the town’s request.
The recommendation to take over the fire department was a result of discussions between researchers and town officials concerning the fire and rescue units. Because the town provides the building and owns the equipment, the local government is liable for volunteer actions at the scene of an emergency, according to the study. Foster and volunteers claim the board’s action was “‘sneaky.’’ They say they were surprised and that they were never invited to take part in the study.
Foster and assistant fire and rescue chief Mary Metzler said they are not opposed to change and do not keep department policies a secret. Foster said if the board and the firm that conducted the study would have taken an interest in the department they would have discovered present insurance covering the fire and rescue units is the same as recommended in the study, except for coverage of a rescue boat. He said plans call for the boat to be insured this spring.
Gaskins said the takeover was unnecessary and likely to be expensive. He said operating the department will cost the town an additional $100,000 each year.
“I don’t see any need to buy a cow when you can get the milk free,” Gaskins added.
Horne and commissioners said another motive is to better serve a fast growing community now containing multi-residental units and a future shopping mall. They said a town-operated department would mean a quicker emergency-response time, better trained staff with a full-time chief on duty and pre-planning for fire calls.
Town attorney Richard Stanley endorsed the study’s findings.
Board members and Horne said they are not displeased by the volunteer’s service to the town. “They do a good job,’’ Horne said.
Charlie Beard, a representative of the firm that conducted the study, agreed that the fire department’s service to the town had been adequate.
However, Commissioner Pete Leo said he believed response times would be improved with a paid force.
Volunteers argued response time will worsen under the board’s plans. Ms. Metzler explained volunteers will have to arrive on the scene now in their own vehicles when formerly they were meeting in teams at the station and driving out to fire scenes from there. ‘‘So what if they have two men and the trucks at the fire if there is no one there to assist them,”’ she said.
While town officials say no tax increase will result from the takeover, volunteers believe residents’ insurance bills will go up as the town attempts to fill the department with new volunteers.
Asked if they would fight a fire occurring after May 1, volunteers answered a definite ‘‘no.””
“When they go hire someone to do a job that all of us have busted our butts to do for so long, then they can do it,’’ said Scott Wegman, who has been on the force for two years.
As for new volunteers, Weinburger said recruiting is tough. After that, Ms. Metzler said it takes at least six months before a volunteer is prepared to fight a fire effectively.
Daily_News (Jacksonville, NC)_1987_03_31_8
The Emerald Isle Association meeting program on the effect a paid fire department will have on the town will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Emerald Isle Fire Department.
Daily_News (Jacksonville, NC)_1987_04_23_1
Walkout scheduled in E. Isle
By ELIZABETH BIRO Daily News Staff
EMERALD ISLE — Emerald Isle fire and rescue volunteers will walk off the job at 8 a.m. Friday when the town Board of Commissioners installs a paid fire chief, assistant volunteer fire chief Mary Metzler said.
However, Town Administrator Wade Horne said he believes ‘“serious” volunteers will remain active in the newly created paid fire department, which commissioners hope will be supplemented by volunteers.
Jacksonville Rescue Squad volunteers say they will not walk off the job until their franchise with the county expires on June 30, though they want commissioners to reconsider going to a paid service.
“I think there are really some legitimate volunteers who are there for legitimate reasons and not for glory,’ Horne said.
Horne said the town is making tentative plans for a volunteer drive to replace any fire and rescue personnel who quit, adding that “‘several experienced and inexperienced” citizens already have expressed interest.
An audience of about 15 citizens offered no verbal opposition Wednesday when the Emerald Isle Board of Commissioners hired Dale Johnson of Wilson Mills as fire chief.
Johnson, 30, a firefighter for the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority and chief of the Wilson Mills Volunteer Fire Department, was chosen by unanimous vote He was chosen from among 15 applicants, only one of whom was a Carteret County resident.
Johnson worked 10 years at the airport and 11 years as a volunteer fireman at the Wilson Mills and Cary volunteer fire departments. He is a state-certified emergency medical technician and is pursuing an associate’s degree in firefighting from Wilson County Technical College.
He is experienced in pre-fire planning, volunteer recruitment and training, aircraft fire, post-fire inspection and structural fires. His salary is set at $19,839, Horne said.
The chief will work with Horne to hire five paid firemen by May 1. Horne said about 45 applications have been submitted.
The volunteers have opposed creation of a town-operated fire department, which they say will be costly and ineffective. They also have complained they were never consulted about the decision.
The disgruntled volunteers have formed a civic group named “‘People’s Choice,”’ which will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at Town Hall.
Daily_News (Jacksonville, NC)_1987_11_05_13
E.I. officials believe vandalism may be tied to election
By ELIZABETH BIRO Daily News Staff
EMERALD ISLE — An incident involving an emergency radio wire apparently cut by vandals between 3 and 4 a.m. Wednesday may be related to the outcome of Tuesday night’s election, some Emerald Isle officials said.
The wire is attached to a radio tower located on the police station’s south side, next door to Town Hall. It is the communication link to motor radios that alert police on the street of problems called into the station.
“If somebody had an emergency call, we would have been unable to respond with an officer from the street,” said Police Chief Mark Wilson.
The emergency 911 system was not affected, Wilson said.
The wires were repaired by 1:30 p.m, Wednesday, he said.
Officials believe vandals were familiar with the wiring. Wilson pointed out that the wires are located in a small cluster of other wires.
“Whoever did this knew what they were doing, because they knew which wires to cut and only the emergency lines were cut,” he said.
Officials said the incident possibly is related to Tuesday night’s election results.
“We have an idea of who did it,” Wilson said.
Two parties were vying for seats on the Board of Commissioners in one of the town’s most heated elections ever.
Harmony Party candidates — five incumbents and one newcomer — won the mayor’s seat and four of the five commissioner seats.
The opposing People’s Voice party took only one seat on the board. The winner was former Emerald Isle Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad Chief and now Volunteer Rescue Squad Chief George Foster.
Many People’s Voice supporters are former volunteer fire and current rescue squad members and supporters who were angered by the current administration’s decision last summer to eliminate the volunteer emergency force and replace it with a paid fire department.
“We don’t know that it’s tied into the election, but it strikes me a little odd that it happens on election night,’”’ said town administrator Wade Horne.
Mayor Lib Heverly, who has lived in Emerald Isle 25 years, said she could not recall any election backlash in the past. “But, you have to remember, we’ve never had an election like this one.””
Foster said he would be surprised to discover that any former fire or current rescue squad volunteers were involved.
“I was afraid we’d get accused of it,” he said. “But, regardless of whoever did, it’s wrong.”
Foster said People’s Voice supporters were disappointed by Tuesday’s election results, but not angered.
He added that he also was unhappy with the results, but said as the party’s sole representative on the board, he will attempt to work with Harmony winners.
“At least we got a foot in the door,” Foster said. ‘I will do everything in my power to work with them (other commissioners).”
