by Kate Shunney
Morgan County is on the verge of having its first paid firefighting position, following approval last week by the Morgan County Commission for the Morgan County Fire Board to advertise for a paid Morgan County Fire Board Captain.
Conversations about understaffed volunteer fire companies has been ongoing for more than a decade as volunteerism has dropped significantly.
The effect of that has been a reduced number of volunteer firefighters who can and will respond to emergency calls throughout Morgan County.
Morgan County has four fire companies, all staffed by volunteers – Berkeley Springs Volunteer Fire Company, South Morgan Volunteer Fire Department, Great Cacapon Volunteer Fire Company and Paw Paw Volunteer Fire Company. Each company is its own legal entity with separate operations and financial organizations.
The Morgan County Fire Board is made up of representatives from the four fire departments, plus three citizen members and a County Commission representative.
On September 17, county officials finalized one step toward having paid fire staff, approving the posting of the Fire Board Captain and transferring money from a state-funded “Fire Protection Fund” the Morgan County Fire Board to use for paying the future captain’s salary.
Commissioners agreed to transfer $64,978 to the Fire Board.
Commissioners also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the commission, the Morgan County Fire Board and Berkeley Springs Volunteer Fire Company. Its goal is to transform fire response in Morgan County.
Morgan County Fire Service MOU
“Morgan County, through the Morgan County Fire Board (MCFB) is committed to operating a combination volunteer and career fire rescue system to service the needs of public safety in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. Primary emphasis shall be to preserve and promote the continuation of a predominantly volunteer fire and rescue system and to supplement the staffing needs of the volunteer fire companies as requested by a participating Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) and approved of by the Morgan County Fire Board,” the MOU says.
Under the new agreement, any paid fire personnel will be referred to as the Morgan County Fire Department, led by the Morgan County Fire Board Captain.
Any paid fire personnel will serve in local volunteer departments only at the request of a fire company, the MOU says.
The new county approach, the agreement says, is to share a paid staff member among the volunteer fire departments.
“To supplement fire service, the Morgan County Fire Board agrees to provide staffing of 1 qualified fire fighter to participate in the VFDs 40 hours a week. All MCFD personnel qualified to drive, operate and utilize VFD apparatus shall be properly trained and approved by the Fire Chief of the participating VFD and shall adhere to all policies and procedures set forth by that department. The Morgan County Fire Board shall provide salaries and compensation packages to the MCFD personnel, and these personnel shall be covered by the Morgan County workers’ compensation plan,” the MOU states.
Navigating a working relationship among paid and volunteer fire personnel has been a big concern and focus of conversations for several years in Morgan County. County officials have said their desire is to boost volunteer involvement in fire companies through incentives and outreach.
Laying out the command structure under the new arrangement, the MOU says, “The Captain of MCFD shall be responsible for all on-duty MCFD employees and pursuant to state statute the Volunteer Fire Chief and/or VFD line officers and/or other individuals designated by department policy shall maintain command of all fire department activities.”
“MCFD personnel will not be assigned to a VFD without prior consultation and agreement by the Fire Chief of the participating VFD,” the memorandum specifies.
The agreement spells out additional details about use of fire company equipment, management of paid staff, duty scheduling and procedures.
The MOU went into effect upon adoption, and will remain in effect with the option for revisions among all parties as the new system becomes reality.
