CARTER COUNTY, KY (WOWK) – Many tri-state communities rely on volunteer firefighters to answer the call in an emergency, but a number of the fire departments are finding themselves shorthanded.
The Grayson and Olive Hill Fire Departments say so far this year they’ve barely been able to handle the number of calls they’ve received. With flooding, vehicle accidents, and structure fire it’s hard for volunteer firefighters to make quick response times, especially on the weekend.
Everybody’s coming from home or just a location not at the station, you’re looking at six, seven, or eight minutes for them to get here.
Jeremy Rodgers, Olive Hill Fire Chief
Now, they’re asking the Carter County Fiscal Court to approve three paid, part-time positions at each station for the weekends.
If the county approves the request, more than $10,000 would be allotted to both stations. According to Olive Hill Fire Chief Jeremy Rodgers, the overall goal is not to create more jobs, but to cut weekend response times in half.
The paid people here make for quicker responses so that we can handle situations quicker.
Jeremy Rodgers, Olive Hill Fire Chief
The Carter County Fiscal Court says they have not made a decision yet and the issue will be brought up again at next month’s meeting.
