A study of fire service in the unincorporated county as part of the new Plan Hamilton recommends that the county "develop short- and long-term plans for paid staffing to augment the volunteer personnel available in the county."
The report by Tri-Star Public Solutions praises the volunteer fire departments, but says it is becoming much harder to recruit volunteers and it will be difficult for the volunteer units to keep up with the expected rapid growth out in the county.
It says counties may fund a Countywide Fire Department by either setting up a fire tax levied on property within one or more fire tax districts or by general fund appropriations.
A new Countywide Fire Department could contract with independent and municipal fire departments to provide coverage within the unincorporated portion of the county, it was stated.
The report says, "Reliability of service and availability of personnel should be of
highest priority when developing the plans. The volunteer departments often have minimal staff available to respond and most fire responses rely on mutual aid from other volunteer and municipal departments, to have an adequate response.
"Regardless of the course(s) of action chosen, it is imperative that the fire and rescue departments, along with the county officials, actively participate in developing strategic plans to address current gaps and the inevitable challenges that come with population growth and demographic changes that are currently impacting the county and will continue to increase in the coming years.
"The most immediate need would be to ensure adequate daytime coverage during the times of highest incident volume and lowest availability of volunteer personnel (daytime hours during the week).
"This will provide for a more consistent response to incidents, reduce response times, and ensure a minimum number of personnel are available during critical times when volunteers may not be available."
The report says fire department staffing "is the most critical function within the fire protection delivery system. Traditionally, in Hamilton County and across the nation in rural communities, volunteers have provided most of the firefighting and rescue staffing capabilities. In recent years, the ability to recruit and retain volunteers, along with a consistently available pool of volunteers is becoming much more difficult to maintain. To counter the decreasing number of available volunteer personnel, communities are looking to augment staffing with paid personnel.
"Paid staffing can consist of part-time and/ or full-time personnel. Most communities looking to add paid personnel will develop a transition plan, generally starting with career personnel operating during the most critical times of reduced availability of volunteer staff. Shifts are often scheduled for 8, 10, or 12 hours, with the goal of eventually providing 24-hour coverage.
"We recommend that the career firefighting personnel obtain the following minimum certifications through the Tennessee Firefighting Commission for the level to which they are hired:
• Firefighter- Firefighter I and II
• Driver/ Engineer- Driver/ Apparatus Operator
• Shift Commander- Fire Officer I and II, Fire Instructor I and II
"In addition, all personnel should obtain the appropriate National Incident Management System- Incident Command (ICS) training, basic/ advanced vehicle rescue training, hazardous materials operations, and at a minimum Emergency Medical Technician- Basic or Advanced (preferred) licensure. As these positions would be newly created, some of the personnel may not have all the required training and certifications.
"A reasonable period should be set for obtaining the appropriate training and certifications. The hiring of the career personnel would necessitate the county enacting a resolution creating the Hamilton County Fire Department. The structure of which could be a single countywide agency, outside the municipalities or may be a hybrid model of a contractual agreement in place with the existing volunteer departments with or without county operated first due station(s). The contractual agreement or a separate Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) would need to be created to provide liability protection for the county’s employees operating apparatus/ equipment owned by the volunteer departments.
"It is important to note that the Fair Labors Standards Act (FLSA) does not allow paid personnel (full or part-time) to volunteer for the same agency that they are employed. A contractual relationship between the county and an existing non-profit volunteer department would constitute the same agency relationship."
The report notes that the county currently contributes around $3 million per year to the volunteer fire and rescue departments. It says, "This is a significant investment, with little operational control of the services provided. As the county continues to grow, equipment and infrastructure needs to be replaced or added, and personnel will need to be hired. The funding model will need to be re-evaluated to remain viable and accountability measures (reporting requirements, minimum training standards, standardization, etc.) put in place as a contingency of receiving funding.
"The volunteer fire service in Hamilton County has provided a solid history of quality service and dedication to the community over the years. The county provides a significant amount of financial support and other services to the independent fire and rescue departments. Hamilton County, like most communities across the state and nation, is experiencing a decline in available volunteers to provide the needed fire and rescue services 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
Eight volunteer fire departments in the county serve the entire unincorporated population of Hamilton County (111,734 in the 2020 Census) as well as the cities and towns of Collegedale, Lakesite, and Walden.
In total, the area served is slightly over one-third of the Hamilton County population tabulated in the 2020 census. The highest concentration of population is near Chattanooga on the western border of Tri-Community VFD 5, in the Highway 58 VFD 1 zone, and Dallas Bay VFD 1.
The Tri-Community VFD has the largest portion of population (39 percent) and E-911 addresses (34 percent) in the VFD coverage area, followed by the Highway 58 VFD, and the Dallas Bay VFD (Table 16). The Tri-Community VFD is estimated to have the highest population growth by 2050 (33 percent) followed by the Sale Creek VFRD (26 percent). The Dallas Bay VFD and the Highway 58 VFD are both estimated to grow about 20 percent, while the lower population districts Flat Top VFD, Mowbray VFD, and Waldens Ridge ES are not projected to have high population growth relevant to their current levels, it was stated.
Click here to view the study.