As Midway continues to reform its own fire department, Liberty County commissioners agreed to extend for 30 days a pact calling for county units to respond to calls within Midway’s city limit.
Commissioners split on the vote 4-3, with some commissioners leaning toward giving the city more time on the agreement.
Liberty County Fire Services Chief Brian Darby recommended a 90-day extension, which was part of the original agreement between the city and the county. Chief Darby had proposed a plan for the county to cover Midway’s fire protection permanently, but Midway’s city council opted to restart its own department.
While the department has not yet received its certification of compliance from the Georgia Fire Standards and Training Council, Midway mayor pro tem Dr. Clemontine Washington told county commissioners they were heading in that direction.
The department has four full-time personnel and four-time part personnel and two of the upper level fire fighters have not received their state certification yet. Washington said that likely will happen in the next 30 days.
Once that happens, Washington said, the city will apply for recertification.
The city currently has an engine and a ladder truck and has ordered a pumper truck, Washington said.
“We’re not in compliance right now,” she said. “There are a lot of things to be done to get the station back up and running.”
In the meantime, without state certification, the Midway department cannot answer calls.
“We cannot go anywhere,” Washington said.
Since the county and the city entered into their agreement March 11, the county has answered 54 calls through May within the city limits. The county’s fire crews ran 13 calls in April and 21 in May.
Of those calls, 28 were medical, 11 were fire-related, and 15 were rescue or services. The calls, Chief Darby noted, did not include any for structure fires. Fire-related calls, he said, included seven for fire alarms, three for brush or wildfires and one for a vehicle fire.
Darby said he has met with Midway Fire Chief Craig Reynolds and has extended a hand of cooperation. Darby said the department is making progress toward regaining a certificate of compliance.
“They are moving toward it,” he said.
But he also cautioned commissioners that for the state’s more than 500 active fire departments, there are only a handful of people who can inspect a department for its compliance. For instance, he said, if the city is short of being in compliance, even if they get it corrected, it could weeks before someone from the GFSTC is back down to check on it.
“They’re going from a volunteer program to a paid program. Think about how long that took us,” he said. “There are a lot of hurdles.”
Commissioners could agree to extend the agreement again, once the current 30 days is up, if Midway’s department has not received its state certification.
“I think they need more time,” Commissioner Justin Frasier said.
“I don’t want to cripple you,” Commissioner Timothy Blount said to Washington and Midway Mayor Levern Clancy, who attended the meeting.
Under the deal, the city is paying the county for each call, based on a Federal Emergency Management Agency rate. The city also is charged for the personnel on each apparatus dispatched, plus an administrative fee, on each call.
Commissioners also approved a contract with Riceboro’s fire department to pay that department based on each call it responds to that is within the unincorporated portion of its fire service district. The county had been paying the city $16,000 a year, with two payments throughout the year.